GREAT FALLS — Steve Keller gave retirement a shot after he stepped down as the head men's basketball coach of the University of Providence in March of 2023. It just didn't take.
“I only went golfing one time,” Keller laughed.
Just a few short months later, Keller was back on the sideline as an assistant coach at Rocky Mountain College, and now he’s added even more to his plate. Keller was named the head coach of the Great Falls Electric ahead of the 2025 season, the team's second in the The Basketball League. The TBL season runs in the spring, so there will be no overlap with the Frontier Conference season.
"I'm still committed to Rocky. And I enjoyed the last year with coach (Bill) Dreikosen, who has been great,” Keller said. “But I kind of missed calling the shots a little bit. And, you know, this is a good opportunity. I still live in Great Falls. I talked to my boys, and they said, 'Why not?’ Some people think I'm crazy, but I love to coach, and I love basketball. They had between 800-1,200 people at all of their games, so the fan support is really exciting.”
The Electric wrapped up their inaugural season in May with a 10-10 record, missing the TBL playoffs by one game. General manager Jim Keough made the decision not to retain head coach Johnny Clark and wasted no time reaching out to Keller, who brings a winning pedigree.
Keller won three high school state titles apiece as head coach of the Opheim and Helena High girls basketball teams before making the jump to the college ranks. He started as an assistant for the Carroll College men before successful runs as a head coach at both Montana Western and the University of Providence.
“We looked at this from the ownership point of view and we needed to make a change,” Keough said. "I always tell people we hit it out of the park. We had a home run. Keller's record is outstanding. And everyone I've talked to, they say Coach Keller is a great coach. Players respect him. For the first year as a program, we did well. We're just missing that one piece. And we found a great coach."
It’s Keller’s first time coaching at the professional level, so there will be an adjustment. But coaching is coaching and it’s a challenge he’s willing to take on. His first task with the Electric is heading to Las Vegas for a TBL combine and open tryout.
"Thursday morning, there's guys that have never played in the TBL, so they're all free agents,” Keller said. "And then the rest of the week they have about 12-14 teams with seven or eight guys on a team, and they just play in front of international coaches and everything. So it’s a good place for me to start and see what's out there.”
The Electric will return a solid nucleus of players from last year’s team, including TBL rookie of the year Antwaan Cushingberry and all-conference forward Lyle Hexom. They will also return local favorites Brendan Howard, who spent his final collegiate season player for Keller at Providence, and Choteau native Isaac Howard, who played for the Argos while Keller was the head coach at Western.
“It's pretty cool, considering I have a lot firsts thanks to Steve Keller,” said Brendan Howard, a Great Falls native. “He offered me my first scholarship when I was in sixth grade to go play at Western. And I would say he's one of the main reasons I was able to go play overseas in Iceland. I know what I expect from him, and he knows what to expect from us and he wants to win. So I think that's good. That should be fun."
Several of Keller’s former players went on to successful professional basketball careers, so it begs the question: Will any of those guys make an appearance in Great Falls next spring?
"I have six or seven guys that are still currently playing. A lot of times those European leagues are finished right about the time this league starts,” Keller explained. "If Zaccheus Darko-Kelly comes home and he can suit up for a couple games or as many games he wants he's welcome to. We have a really fluid roster, that could change day to day, week to week. So that will be a little bit different."
