GREAT FALLS — Last week, former Great Falls High basketball standout Brendan Howard transferred from the University of North Dakota to come finish his career at the University of Providence.
With Howard finding his final home in the Argos, the two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Montana is happy to be home close to family to close out his whirlwind college career.
“It didn’t work out at North Dakota and there wasn’t a rule in me not coming back so now I get to be close to home, see my parents a little bit more, see my family a little bit more you know I think that was one of the big things,” Howard said.
With stops at Eastern Washington University, MSU-Billings and the University of North Dakota, his father and head coach for the Great Falls High Bison, Bob Howard, is glad Brendan will be close to home and finally finding a place where he can end his career on a high note.
“He’s far along in his career, he’s tried everything, now he needs to be somewhere he’s happy,” Bob explained.
In his first game against Montana Tech on Jan. 8, Brendan started and led all scorers with an impressive 16 points in a 76-66 loss. However, Howard knows there is still much work to be done in order to get him and the team where they need to be.
“I think we as a team have a lot of things we need to clean up. A lot of it falls on me. I’m the one that needs to play catch up and be sharp with it and probably put in more time to know the plays than anyone else,” he said.
Howard spent his first season redshirting at Eastern Washington University. From there, he exploded on the scene at MSU-Billings, where he averaged 17.9 points per game in three seasons. He played this last season for the University of North Dakota before deciding to get his release from the program in order to come play in Great Falls.
The Argos will have their hands full this Thursday as they take on top-ranked Carroll College (16-2, 3-1) in the Frontier Conference. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the McLaughlin Center.
