Carroll College men's head basketball coach Gary Turcott knew he had made the right decision immediately after hiring Brandon Veltri five years ago.

"When I interviewed him for the job I just knew that he had a great work ethic, honesty and integrity. Those were the things I was looking for," Turcott said. "I knew he'd learn the rest."

And he has.

On Wednesday, Veltri was promoted from an assistant to associate head coach by Carroll Athletic Director Bruce Parker.

The move was welcomed by Turcott, who has seen Veltri take on more and more responsibilities since replacing former assistant coach Shawn Nelson, now the head coach for the women's program.

"I'm very excited. It's just a great acknowledgment, one that I'm very appreciative of," Veltri said. "I've been here five years and I'm just real proud of the job we've done as a staff and as a basketball program. To be acknowledged for what we've done is nice, it feels real good."

Veltri, who also serves as the school's sports information director, has added to his list of duties each season since arriving at the school from Idaho State University, where he was a graduate assistant to coach Doug Oliver. He began his first year simply enough with game preparation, making sure the players were ready each week before a matchup.

That grew into taking over the defense the next year. He added duties as the team's main recruiter after that, then started working with a bit of the offense and the school's camps.

"The first thing I did was just buy into what Coach Turcott was teaching our players, and buy into his coaching philosophy. And then, I think I've really tried to take the recruiting head on and put us in a situation where we're recruiting the best Montana kids," Veltri said.

"He's more involved each year in what we're doing," Turcott said.

And he hasn't been afraid to take the reigns when the situation needed it.

During one of their final regular season games last season, the Saints went into the second half trailing 16th-ranked Rocky Mountain College by 10 points.

"We were down, they were playing so well, and Brandon is the one writing down all the sets and all the plays of our opponent," Turcott said. "We go in at half time, it's his responsibility to get that communicated, and Brandon made some real good adjustments in that Rocky game."

The Saints came out the second half shutting down Rocky's top offensive players to win the game 80-76.

It was the fifth in a seven-game win streak that finished the regular season, forcing a three-way tie for the Frontier Conference title with Rocky and Westminster. The Saints would end up making the NAIA national tournament before losing to Robert Morris (Ill.) in the first round.

Turcott said that Veltri has not only grasped the game but learned how to use technology to his advantage. Every shot, every set up and inbound play is recorded by Veltri and worked into computer programs.

It's one of the reasons why, since his arrival, Carroll has compiled an impressive 120-42 overall record and a pair of "Elite Eight" appearances and a berth in the NAIA's "Fab Four" in 2005.

In that time, the Saints have also garnered 12 all-conference picks and six All-America honorees, thanks in part to Veltri's personable demeanor when recruiting.

Of course, other colleges have been interested in Veltri, and with so much success, he could have moved on by now.

"I'm in more of a hurry to be good at my profession than to be at a certain school," Veltri said. "I just felt like every year that I've been here at Carroll I've learned more and more from Coach Turcott and it's been beneficial to me and I think it will be beneficial to me in the future."

That future could be a long one with the Saints.

Turcott, the dean of Frontier Conference basketball coaches, enters his 19th season at the helm of Carroll's program with a 356-216 record. He's made no plans to retire yet, but he knows there will always be a young man willing to take over.

"I'd love to be the head coach at Carroll," Veltri said.

Would he be a worthy successor?

"Absolutely, in my opinion," Turcott said.