Montana Western, University of

Renius capped his two-year career at Western with a 16.3 points per game scoring average and 9.8 rebounds per contest in 1981. The 7-1 center controlled the paint on the defensive end. His efforts garnered him Frontier Conference and District 112 first team basketball honors. Renius landed at Western Montana College after an unsuccessful attempt at breaking into professional basketball under Dick Motta. Motta referred Renius to WMC Coach Casey Keltz, who just happened to be looking for a big man. “It was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had, I right from the start,” said Renius. “Coming out of the Bullets try-out camp, being snowed out of Butte in August and getting offered a scholarship to WMC at 25 years of age, while driving toward Dillon in Coach Keltz’s car; all the while, looking out the window at the snow-capped mountain peaks of Montana in August.” Renius, his wife Gail, and their family, now make their home in Grants Pass, Oregon, where Craig is a full-time substitute teacher and coach of the eighth grade basketball program. Renius graduated from WMC in 1983.