GREAT FALLS — Great Falls CMR alum and former Oklahoma City Thunder forward Josh Huestis is putting on his annual summer camp this week in Great Falls.
The camp features kids ranging from fourth grade all the way through high school. The campers are learning new basketball skills, as well as sharpening the ones they already have.
The camp also focuses on building character and helping them to become better people.
“We’re trying to pass on positive messages and positive leadership skills to the next generation,” said Huestis. “I think the biggest character skill they get is teamwork. You’re bringing a bunch of kids that don’t know each other and you’re teaching them how two play together with people they’ve never met before.”
This marks the sixth time Huestis has held this camp in Great Falls, and he has recently extended it to Bozeman as well. Year after year he begins to see the same faces, and feels that it is an honor for the kids’ parents to continue trusting him to teach their children the right way to play the game.
“It’s unbelievable to see the progress. Every single year they show up and not only are they better basketball players but they get closet to my eye level,” said Huestis, who stands at 6-foot-7. “Seeing them go from little kids to becoming young men and women is always really fun and I feel like we develop a little bit of a relationship and a friendship which makes this all worth while.”
Since retiring from professional basketball, Huestis has dedicated a lot of his time to giving back to Montana. He started with the Josh Huestis Foundation and has now grown to hold events such as the Montana Elite Invitational which helps high school players get onto college coaches radars at no expense to the players or their families.
Huestis has given back to foster children, hosts annual summer camps, started up a travel basketball program to provide more out-of-state opportunities for his players, and holds training sessions in Bozeman.
