Detroit Mercy basketball is on the rise, and head coach Mark Montgomery is sticking around to lead the charge. After a thrilling late-season surge that brought the Titans within a whisker of the NCAA Tournament, Montgomery has signed a contract extension that will keep him on the sidelines through the 2030-31 season.

The new five-year deal comes on the heels of a remarkable turnaround. In just his second season at the helm, Montgomery guided Detroit Mercy to a 17-15 record—a nine-win improvement from his first year. The Titans came painfully close to snapping their NCAA Tournament drought, falling 66-63 to Wright State in the Horizon League championship game after leading by as many as 12 points. It would have been Detroit Mercy's first trip to the Big Dance since 2012.

The turnaround is even more impressive considering where the program stood just two years ago. Before Montgomery's arrival, the Titans managed just a single win in the 2022-23 season, leading to the departure of head coach Mike Davis. Montgomery inherited a team that went 8-24 in his first year, but with point guard Orlando Lovejoy leading the way in 2024-25, the Titans turned heads across the conference.

Montgomery, 56, brings a wealth of experience to the role. He spent a decade as head coach at Northern Illinois, where he compiled a 126-179 record before being let go in 2021. Between his stints with the Huskies, he served as an assistant under Tom Izzo at his alma mater, Michigan State—a program known for its grit and discipline. After a brief stop on Davis' staff at Detroit Mercy in 2021, Montgomery returned to East Lansing as director of recruiting before getting the call to lead the Titans.

As for Davis, the 65-year-old veteran is back in the head-coaching saddle, recently taking over at Mississippi Valley State—the fifth head-coaching job of his storied career. But in Detroit, all eyes are on Montgomery and a program that's suddenly trending upward.