GREAT FALLS — On a roster which features players from all over the country, The Basketball League's Great Falls Electric feature two well-known names in Montana.
"I'm getting ready to hang them up and then I got the phone call to get the chance to keep playing, so I came running," said Isaac Howard — Choteau native and former Providence Argo — on Wednesday during the Electric's practice at Great Falls High School. "Coming from a small town, you know, 800-1,000 people, the love and support is crazy. And that's what I like most about the game."
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"Having the opportunity to, I mean, play high school, college and professional basketball in your state, I mean, it's very rare to do," Livingston native and MSU Billings product Brendon Johnson said. "It's a blessing to be back, I mean, around all my friends, family, and Montana has always treated me very well and I'm just blessed to be back."
Howard and Johnson provide some homegrown ties to Montana's only pro basketball team.
For the former Bulldog and Argo, he has played for the Electric all three years the franchise has existed and said it's always been special to represent home.
"I see a lot of Montana kids grow up, they feel kind of limited to maybe like the possibilities of how far they can take their careers," Howard said. "To have that chance in Montana, it's really cool to see opportunity just growing everywhere."
Johnson, who was recently helping coach at Manhattan Christian, was added to the roster March 12 and is getting his first taste of pro hoops, he said.
"They gave me a call on a Sunday and I had to get up here on Tuesday, and my fiancee was like, 'Hey, I mean, it's your opportunity to get back in to it,' and I couldn't pass it up," Johnson said. "It's actually surprising because, I mean, how in-shape they are even at like 30-plus (years old). You know, it's like, wow — like, this is what I want to do. This is how, like, I want to be when I grow up, too."
Howard and Johnson both said they go back a long time knowing each other.
"I love it, man, the bond's already there," Howard said. "Cool playing with Brendon, too, because I played with his brothers, as well. So to see him come and play at this level and do what he's doing already has been really cool to see."
"Now he has me — the younger one — you know, he has to put up with me, basically babysit me in some ways," Johnson joked. "But no, it's so cool, and just seeing him just keep playing basketball and doing what he loves to do, it's awesome."
Howard, Johnson and the Electric are back in action at home Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the Tri-Cities Sun Devils. Both games take place at St. Patrick's Academy.
