Whatever cliché is used that’s similar to passing the torch or baton, it could not be more appropriate than in the case of a new, bright, young face on the Redwood Empire scene in recently named Montgomery-Santa Rosa boys basketball Coach Zac Tiedeman.
Last week the former Montgomery star that went on to be a Division II standout at Humboldt State, was named to replace his mentor and legendary Vikings Coach Tom Fitchie.
Fitchie retired in April after 31 years at Montgomery. He finished with a 562-338 career record, 10 North Bay League titles, four CIF NCS championships and one state championship game appearance in 1998 when they lost the CIF Division II state title game, 61-52 to Santa Margarita-Rancho Santa Margarita.
Tiedeman now takes the helm at his alma mater after assisting Fitchie the past four years, two years as junior varsity coach and the past two years as a varsity assistant.
As a player Tiedeman was on both the 2003 and 2006 teams that captured NCS Division II titles. In 2006, his senior season, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat named him its Large School Player of the Year.
After graduating from Montgomery Tiedeman played a year at Santa Rosa Junior College, a year at Santa Clara, and then two years at Humboldt State, in a college career that culminated in his being the CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association) Player of the Year and an appearance in the 2010 Division II East-West All Star Game.
Before returning to Montgomery Tiedeman played a year in Europe.
The Tiedeman family is well known in the Santa Rosa area for its basketball prowess. Zac’s father Steve Tiedeman was a star at Montgomery and a teammate of Fitchie there and at Sonoma State. His older brother Tyler Tiedeman was also a Viking standout that went on to play at Boise State and then in Europe.
Tiedeman told the Press Democrat what most Redwood Empire basketball aficionados already knew, and that is he wasn’t going to be changing much from what his guru Fitchie has been doing, and that’s stressing the “team concept.”
This coming season could be a challenge. All five starters and 10 players in all graduated from last year’s 21-12 team that tied Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa for the North Bay League title.
“Even though we lost 10 seniors we’ve got a good group back that’s excited to make their mark,” Tiedeman told Prep2Prep. “Obviously you can’t teach experience, and we’ve got a lot of first-timer things with players and coaches, so we’ll be doing a lot of it on the fly. We’ll just have to work every day to get better.”
One of Tiedeman’s assistants will be Brian Long, a star at Newman who has coached at Santa Rosa JC and Geyserville High before helping out at Montgomery.
“Brian and I have a long history. I played for him and worked and coached with him,” Tiedeman said.
“When you think of Montgomery basketball you think of the names Fitchie and Tiedeman, so his bloodline is part of their tradition,” arch rival Newman Coach Tom Bonfigli remarked.
“I think he’ll do a good job,” continued Bonfigli, who was featured last year on Prep2Prep. “Zac’s a positive guy and they have a fundamentally sound philosophy, but he has some work to do this year in re-building.”
While coaching, Tiedeman will also finish up getting his degree at Sonoma State so he can obtain a teaching credential.
No replacement yet for James Forni
According to sources at Casa Grande-Petaluma, no coach has yet been named to replace James Forni. Last month Forni’s passing away from cancer was featured on Prep2Prep.
