GREAT FALLS — The Bison boys basketball program at Great Falls High underwent a big change in the offseason, as longtime head coach Bob Howard announced his retirement after 22 years at the helm. In May, the school then promoted longtime assistant and Great Falls graduate Eric Chaon to take over.
Now, Chaon is about to begin his first season with the Bison varsity team with the season tipping off next weekend.
"You miss having (Howard) around, and when you start to practice you're implementing a lot of things that you want to do, but you're remembering that he had a lot of knowledge and did a lot of things the right way," Chaon said Wednesday at Great Falls High's practice. "So you find yourself trying to get back to some old-school, simple basketball."
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On top of being an assistant, Chaon previously led the junior varsity boys team. Two of his former JV players that are now with him on varsity are seniors Andrew Boutilier and Noah Fleming.
"It's been great. He's a good coach, knows what he's doing," Boutilier said. "He's been here a long time. He's got the culture ready and he's just getting us ready to play."
"He's pushing us hard which is good, we need it," Fleming said. "I like that he's stepping up and taking that role.
"It's nice to know him and have him as my coach last year."
Great Falls High lost a good amount of its production from last season's team, but Chaon said his guys have filled in well in practice so far.
"I think they've got their own agenda and ideas and goals, and your high school window is limited," Chaon said. "I think they're hungry to make the most of the opportunity that they have.
"I know that this senior group will work hard for however many games we wind up with and you can't take that for granted as a coach."
Boutilier and Fleming both said they like the work ethic shown from the Bison.
"We've all been playing with each other for a while, we're brothers. We know each other really well," Boutilier said. "We know how we play, what to do."
"We definitely want it more. I mean, last year we expected to be good and we were all excited that we were going to be good, but then turned out not as great as we thought it was going to be," Fleming said. "This year, I think it's more like, we got to work hard. We got to work to get what we want and so we're ready to do that."
The season tips off for Great Falls next Friday and Saturday at home against Kalispell Flathead and Glacier.
