Tinkle, Tinkle Little Star: Montana Defector Could Be Diamond in Sky at OSU

We don't know if the song "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" was the background music. But Wayne Tinkle, departing Montana for Oregon State, is the latest coach to make the gut-wrenching decision to leave his alma mater for a coaching position with another school or NBA franchise. Tinkle succeeded Craig Robinson, who failed to receive a pardon from the Beavers or brother-in-law Barack.

Three former Princeton coaches - Sydney Johnson, Joe Scott and John Thompson III - are among the following alphabetical list of active mentors who voluntarily left their Division I alma maters:

Active Coach Alma Mater (Coaching Years) Subsequent Job (Years)
Jim Baron St. Bonaventure '77 (1993-2001) Rhode Island (2002-12)
Ed Conroy The Citadel '89 (2007-10) Tulane (since 2011)
Ed DeChellis Penn State '82 (2004-11) Navy (since 2012)
Sydney Johnson Princeton '97 (2008-11) Fairfield (since 2012)
Billy Kennedy Southeastern Louisiana '86 (2000-05) Miami (FL) assistant (2006)
Lon Kruger Kansas State '74 (1987-90) Florida (1991-96)
Larry Krystkowiak Montana '86 (2005 and 2006) Milwaukee Bucks (2007 and 2008)
Mike Krzyzewski Army '69 (1976-80) Duke (since 1981)
Thad Matta Butler '90 (2001) Xavier (2002-04)
Ray McCallum Ball State '83 (1994-2000) Houston (2001-04)
Greg McDermott Northern Iowa '88 (2002-06) Iowa State (2007-10)
Oliver Purnell Old Dominion '75 (1992-94) Dayton (1995-2003)
Joe Scott Princeton '87 (2005-07) Denver (since 2008)
John Thompson III Princeton '88 (2001-04) Georgetown (since 2005)
Wayne Tinkle Montana '89 Oregon State (since 2015)
Donnie Tyndall Morehead State '93 (2007-12) Southern Mississippi (2013 and 2014)

NOTE: Baron (Canisius), Kennedy (Texas A&M), Kruger (Oklahoma), Krystkowiak (Utah), Matta (Ohio State), McCallum (Detroit), McDermott (Creighton), Purnell (DePaul) and Tyndall (Tennessee) are currently coaching other colleges.