Following a four-year career that wound up in 1992 Engellant was the UM single-game, single season and career leader in blocked shots with 7, 71 and 212, respectively; ranked second behind the great Larry Krystkowiak in career rebounds with 874, and was 10th on the all-time career scoring list with 1,224 points, averaging 10.3 per game.
He also was a two-time winner of the John Eaheart Award as the team's top defensive player and twice won the Allan Nielsen Award given to the player best representing Grizzly basketball.
During his UM career the Grizzlies won 87 games and lost 35 with his final season - the 1991-92 campaign - the best at 26-5. Montana won two league titles and made two NCAA appearances during Engellant's time on the court.
"I've always felt that I was more of a team player," Engellant explained, "and looking at individual stats is something that I've always shied away from because, at the end of the day, the goal for me was to win the game."
When D Nice, as he became known to his teammates - left tiny Geraldine, Mont., to play basketball at the University of Montana, little did he know that he would wind up playing eight years of professional ball in Europe let alone enjoy the success he had in Missoula.
Needless to say it was quite an adjustment.
While he had received letters from schools throughout the nation Engellant narrowed his choices down to Montana and Montana State. That after thinking a few years earlier that he would follow his brother, Kevin, into the small-school NAIA level.
"But then I grew a couple more inches and the bigger universities got involved," he recalled.
Engellant said head coach Stew Morrill and assistant Blaine Taylor, who would be UM's head coach during his senior season, played a big role in his decision to commit to UM following his junior year of high school.
Growing up on the farm near a community of 250 with a high school enrollment around 50 didn't actually set Engellant up for an easy transition even though he had attended basketball camps in Missoula.
"Coming out of there . . . (I) really didn't know where I could play," Engellant said. "The coaches probably had more confidence than I did. I was pretty thin back then and knew that I needed to put on some weight before I would really be able to compete at a high level."
So the adjustment for Engellant was both athletic and social. But fortunately things went well on the court during his freshman season and he realized that he would be able to handle things.
"Wayne Tinkle back then was the center and kind of my mentor," Engellant pointed out, "So (I) kind of figured out that I had a chance to do something in that league."
Engellant isn't sure where the nickname came from but thinks it may have been taken by some Griz teammates from a rap singer.
"Maybe I was too nice when I was young and too nice on the court," Engellant laughed. "I got a little bit of a mean streak later on. Certainly when I started playing professional basketball I knew that was a part of the game I needed."
Engellant said Morrill and Taylor had different personalities as coaches and "complemented each other so well."
He described Morrill as personable and someone who obviously really cared about his players while Taylor was more of the Xs and Os type and more of the brains behind the basketball part of the operation.
"My senior year was our best year," Engellant pointed out, "but I really attribute that to (being) built by both Stew and Blaine, although Blaine was the coach my senior year."
With a push from Tinkle, who was already there, Engellant went to the Tri Cities in Washington to play in the Continental Basketball Association his first year out of UM. That was after about a two-week preseason stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA when he was the last man cut.
"Didn't really enjoy it that much," Engellant said of his short time in the CBA. "Did okay, was kind of up and down. Professional basketball's a little different and somewhat of an eye opener."
So he decided after one year in the Tri Cities to give European pro basketball a shot. He started in what he called a lower-end league in Portugal.
An injury forced him to take a year off, but he returned to play in Sweden, Belgium, Germany and Belgium again before injuries told him it was time to quit. That was in 2003.
"(I) really started playing at a much higher level toward the end of my career," Engellant said. "That's when I was playing in some of the upper leagues, but every year was a little bit different."
During his time in Europe Engellant and his wife, Melissa, started their family which now consists of three boys: Drew, 6; Trey, 3; and Sam, seven months. The two got married in 1997.
"Going back and forth from Europe and never really having a home and not being able to establish yourself, that's tough," Engellant said. "It's much easier when you're single."
Engellant said Melissa adapted well to Europe because she had more of a social life and probably regretted his retirement more than Daren.
"She'd go off and travel," Engellant said. "Even my folks would come over and they'd go rent a car or get on a train . . . and go to different places, so she ended up actually seeing more of Europe than I did."
Engellant majored in accounting and also earned his MBA, so he was at least somewhat well prepared for what happened following his retirement from basketball.
He and Melissa and the kids had moved to her home town of Kalispell when he retired. When he knew retirement was imminent he had crossed paths with Mark Agather who, along with twin brother and fellow former Grizzly hoopster Max, owned an insurance business there.
Engellant told the Agathers he was interested in owning his own business, probably not realizing how soon that would happen. Mark told him Max was contemplating retirement at that time, so Engellant went to work with them.
Three months later he bought the business, Glacier Insurance Strategies, that mostly does group insurance plans for businesses.
"Learned it quickly," Engellant at least somewhat understated. "Fortunately I had good employees. They stayed with me, and here we are four years later."
Engellant had helped coach basketball at Flathead High School for four years but is taking at least this year off partly due to the split in the high schools and partly due to expansion and new construction plans for his business.
He plays now and then, but referred to Kalispell as "not a basketball Mecca." The Harlem Globetrotters are due in town for a charity event and he's been asked to play for the opposition team.
"They apparently think that I'm going to be able to make some noise against them," Engellant laughed, "which is not true because I'm out of shape and haven't played."
Looking back at his time at UM Engellant said it was a great four years. He had hoped it would be five because he wanted to redshirt his first year in Missoula. But it did go by fast.
"Awfully good time there," Engellant remembered. "The basketball plays a lot into that and we had so much success there. Certainly back then the crowds were huge and (it's) really fun to reminisce on the teams we had and the good times we had there."
Engellant said all of the experiences he's had through basketball have had a positive influence on his life so far with the exception of a few injuries.
"It's something that you draw on and if you can learn from the experiences that you have, especially through the basketball avenue, I think it really has helped me," Engellant noted, "especially when you put it in perspective.
"I knew that it was a finite time . . . that you're going to get so much attention," he added. "But it certainly has helped me in my business because a lot of people remember the days that I played there."
Engellant visits with Tinkle "now and then," but contact with former players like Roger Fasting happens less and less as time goes by.
"It's hard to keep track of everybody, especially when you start getting busy," he lamented.
The family also keeps Engellant from coming to Missoula for football or basketball games as often as he used to, but he hopes to resume those trips when the kids are older.
One thing for sure: Engellant is a big fan of the idea of moving the students back to side court in Dahlberg Arena and trying to recreate the old Zoo atmosphere.
"I think it's a great idea," Engellant said. "I really was surprised they had done that (moved the students out) and I know the reasons they do it. But when they built that whole arena I guess I was skeptical.
"That (students at side court) was a huge advantage for us," he elaborated. "Even when they introduced our team and we could go over there and slap five to all the football players who were down there supporting us and standing up.
"The other team would take the ball out of bounds and they'd be screaming in their ear. You talk about a sixth man. That was huge for us. You get the students there and it actually becomes a participatory sport because they will stand.
"I would tell you that we probably wouldn't have had the record we had at home if we didn't have the support of those students at courtside."
Click here to listen to the entire interview.
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