The name Tinkle rings a bell around here
If you’re following the NCAA Tournament, does the name Tinkle ring a bell?
Wayne Tinkle Sr. was the Dean of Men at Marquette University and was part of the committee that hired men’s basketball coach Al McGuire in the mid-1960s.
His son, Terry Tinkle, was the girls basketball coach at Plymouth High School in the mid-1980s and then served as principal of St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Jefferson.
Both spent some time at Lakeland College, as well. Wayne replaced Duane “Moose” Woltzsen as vice president and athletic director; Terry played his freshman year at Marquette before transferring to Lakeland so he could play basketball and football, with friend and future NFL tight end Pat Curran, who was also from Milwaukee.
So … yes … that the youngest of the Wayne Tinkle’s 11 kids: Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle II, headed to the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 this Saturday to face Loyola at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Life and basketball have taken Coach Tinkle to several places, including Illinois and Montana, but the 55-year-old, 6-foot-10 coach still maintains memories and ties to his brief time in Milwaukee.
The senior Wayne Tinkle had his first six children in East Lansing, Michigan, while he was getting his degree and his master’s at Michigan State.
And then the last five were born in Milwaukee, including Wayne II, in 1966. The Tinkle family didn’t live too far from Milwaukee County Stadium.
“We moved from Milwaukee to Chicago when I was just a year old, but I hear are a lot of stories,” said Tinkle on Tuesday during a video conference call with reporters. “Growing up, we would go back to see some Brewers games from time to time; drive by our house, which was on Wisconsin Avenue.
“We would always go up to Wisconsin in the summer; some of our uncles
Milwaukee-born Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle has a 270-199 record in 15 years as a head coach, including seven years in his current job.
had lake places around the state. And those are some great memories, you know, playing out in the cabins and on the lake with all of our cousins and family. It was really good time.”
Wayne was recruited by then-coach Rick Majerus at Marquette but wound up at Montana (1985-89) as a player, and his parents moved to Montana to watch him play his senior year.
The connections don’t end there. While at Montana, Tinkle played with eventual Milwaukee Bucks draft pick and coach Larry Krystkowiak. Tinkle, in fact, replaced Krystkowiak as Grizzlies coach when Krystkowiak left for the Bucks job in 2006.
Long after leaving the state, Tinkle kept ties to home.
When he became head coach at Montana (2006-14), Freddie Owens was one of his assistant coaches. Owens played at Wisconsin and Milwaukee Washington.
Tinkle is also acquaintances with Tony Bennett.
“We played against him when I was coaching Montana and when he was at Washington State,” said Tinkle. “He has helped me with some assistant coaching hires over the years.”
This is Tinkle’s seventh year at Oregon State, where he has a 112-108 record; 52-76 in the Pac-12 Conference.
In 15 years overall – including his time at Montana as head coach – he’s 270-199.
The Beavers are making their first NCAA appearance since 2016 and the second since 1990.
Oregon State has defeated No. 21 Oregon, No. 25 Oregon, No. 23 Colorado and No. 11 Oklahoma State this year, its most wins over ranked teams in a season since 1979-80.
In two NCAA Tournament games, the Beavers are shooting 44.9% (48 for 107) and limiting their opponents to 30.5% (39 for 128).
Funny enough, Tinkle also has several ties to Loyola; his father left Marquette in the late 1960s to become the vice president and dean of students at Loyola of Chicago.