Big Sky Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
23. Martin Breunig
A 6’8 center originally from Leverkusen, Germany, Breunig made his way to the states and attended high school in Wisconsin. His college journey would start in the Pac-12 at Washington in 2011, but he did get much of a chance with the Huskies, scoring just 37 points in 30 games across two years. After sitting out as a transfer, he got onto the court with Montana in 2014 and developed into one of the Big Sky’s best frontcourt weapons.
In year one at Montana, which was also Travis DeCuire’s first year as head coach, Breunig averaged 16.7 points and 7.3 rebounds and settled into a major role. He had a couple of 30-point outputs and put up 23 points and 17 rebounds in a tough Big Sky Tournament finals loss. Senior year was even more productive with Breunig putting up 18.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, though Montana came just short of the Big Dance yet again.
Breunig finished among the conference’s leaders in points and rebounds and was named First Team All-Big Sky in both of those seasons. He actually ranked in the Top 15 in the nation in field goal percentage in both seasons, shooting just under 61% for those two years with the Grizzlies. He had great offensive metrics and certainly proved his ability when given the chance at Montana, helping them to two decent seasons and a ton of personal success.