[2] Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tinkle's family moved to Spokane, Washington, and he graduated from Ferris High School in 1984.

[3][4][5] In his senior season, he led the Greater Spokane League in scoring and field goal percentage (61.8).

[6][7] Tinkle played college basketball at the University of Montana in Missoula from 1984 to 1989,[8][9] under head coaches Mike Montgomery and Stew Morrill.

[10][11] Tinkle played professionally for twelve years, spending most of his time in Europe in Sweden, Italy, Spain, and Greece.

[12][13] Later in his first season, he signed with Liège Basket of Basketball League Belgium and averaged 24.1 points and 11.5 rebounds.

[12] Tinkle began the 1993–94 season with the CBA's Rapid City Thrillers, until he signed with Onyx Caserta of the Italian Lega Basket on December 28, 1993.

[12] In the 1994–95 season, Tinkle began with Pagrati Athens of the Greek Basket League, before signing with Somontano Huesca of Liga ACB on November 25.

When Larry Krystkowiak left Missoula for an assistant's job in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks, Tinkle was promoted to head coach in June 2006.

In his penultimate season in Missoula, Tinkle led the Grizzlies to their second straight trip to the NCAA tournament, as UM played 19th-ranked Syracuse in San Jose, California.

In 2011–12, the 13th-seeded Grizzlies played the fourth-seeded and 14th-ranked (Associated Press) Wisconsin Badgers in an NCAA tournament game in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Grizzlies lost to finish at 25–7, and tied a school record with their fourth consecutive twenty-win season (25–7, 25–7, 21–11, and 22–10).

When the Grizzlies defeated Weber State in the Big Sky tournament final on March 16, 2013, it was their 93rd win over the last four seasons – a school record.