Griz Coach Charged

University of Montana men’s basketball coach Blaine Taylor pleaded innocent to a drunken-driving charge and was released from jail on $320 bond.

Taylor, 37, was jailed early Friday after being arrested in Bigfork.

“I regret it,” Taylor told The Missoulian at the Eagle Bend Golfing Community, where he played Friday in the Governor’s Cup tournament. Trial is set for Sept. 1.

A security officer at the Marina Cay resort in Bigfork told authorities that someone in a truck knocked over a light post and drove away. Curry said officers located a truck matching the description in a church parking lot near the resort before 2 a.m. Taylor was asleep inside.

Paint on the truck’s rear bumper appeared to match paint from the damaged light post, Curry said.

At the county jail, Taylor registered a 0.247 blood-alcohol level, according to officials. The limit for driving is 0.10.