NIU Athletic Director Jeff Compher confirmed on Wednesday evening that Michigan State assistant coach Mark Montgomery has been hired as the head men’s basketball coach.

Montgomery has been at Michigan State with head coach Tom Izzo since the 2001-2002 season. For the past four seasons as associate head coach, Montgomery has acted as the top assistant to Izzo. The Spartans made three trips to the Final Four in Montgomery’s tenure, most recently in 2010.

Jeff Goodman of foxsports.com recently named Montgomery to his list of 10 men’s basketball coaches ready to take over their own program.

The hiring of Montgomery comes after negotiations reportedly broke down with Gonzaga assistant coach Ray Giacoletti. According to Chicago Tribune Live host David Kaplan, Giacoletti was the Huskies’ first choice and the hiring was near complete until negotiations hit a snag.

Kaplan first reported to the Northern Star on Wednesday afternoon that the Huskies had made Montgomery the 27th head coach in program history. Earlier in the day, Kaplan reported that Montgomery and his wife were on campus with Compher and NIU President John Peters.

Compher fired former head coach Ricardo Patton on March 9 with one year left on his five-year contract. The move came less than 24 hours after the Huskies had wrapped up their fourth consecutive 20-loss season under Patton.

Before going to East Lansing in 2001, Montgomery spent four seasons in the MAC, coaching at Central Michigan as an assistant to head coach Jay Smith. In his last year at CMU, the Chippewas posted a 20-8 record and captured the school’s first MAC regular-season title since 1987. The 2000-2001 Chippewas became the first team in MAC history to go from worst (6-23 in 1999-2000) to first in one season.

Montgomery played for Michigan State from 1988-1992, averaging 5.3 points and 4.5 assists over his career. In his senior season, Montgomery earned third-team All-Big Ten honors in helping lead the Spartans to a 22-8 record and a berth in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After graduating, Montgomery spent four years overseas playing professional basketball.

A press conference to announce the hiring of Montgomery is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and will be available online at niuhuskies.com.