Ex-Tech hoops standout Caleb Bellach signs debut pro deal

He was a sophomore transferring to Montana Tech to be “the guy” for a program that’d stack three consecutive Frontier Conference regular-season and tournament championships for the first time in league history.

Now, a more daunting, but arguably more exciting, challenge awaits.

Friday, Bellach signed his first professional basketball contract at his family home in Churchill, not far from Manhattan Christian where Bellach burst onto Montana’s basketball scene.

In six weeks, he’ll leave for Ehingen, Germany, and begin training with Ehingen Urspring of the country’s ProB League. Bellach said he downloaded Duolingo, a language-learning app, on Monday to prepare for his first journey overseas.

“It was pretty surreal, to be honest,” Bellach said. “I think it’ll hit me more once I get over there…

“I remember before [high school] graduation. We had this senior thing where I had to introduce myself and what my plans were – I’ve been thinking about playing professionally for a long time.”

A team with two feeder programs, Ehingen Urspring typically rosters a younger team.

At 23 years old, with over 1,300 collegiate points and an NAIA All-America accolade in his back-pocket, Bellach will be looked to as a leader.

“One of the first things [head coach Johannes Hübner] said was, ‘I need an on-court leader,’” Bellach said.

“That made me feel really well when he said that.”

Bellach shares an agency (Tré Sports Management) with former Tech All-Americans Sindou Diallo and Asa Williams. Diallo and Bellach, a Montana State transfer, were Tech’s top-two leading scorers in 2022, capturing the Orediggers’ first Frontier championship since 1999.

Bellach and Williams paced the Orediggers each of the next two seasons, culminating in an 83-17 three-year standard-setting stretch.