BILLINGS — Football is Grant Vigen's future.
A son of Brent Vigen — the highly successful head coach at Montana State — Grant Vigen is about to embark on a college career with the Bobcats as a promising quarterback prospect.
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But that's not to say basketball hasn't treated him very well.
"It's been huge," Vigen said of his career on the hardwood. "I've met a lot of great friends, been able to play with some guys that I consider my brothers now, so it's brought a lot to me. I've loved every second of it."
This week, Vigen is competing with the top players in the state in the Midland Roundtable's annual Montana-Wyoming All-Star Series. A fresh graduate of Gallatin High School in Bozeman, the 6-foot-6 Vigen averaged 13.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for the Raptors this past season while leading Class AA with a .619 shooting percentage.
And don't forget, Vigen helped Gallatin win its first state basketball title the year before with a 62-45 championship-game win over Missoula Sentinel.
Vigen has a basketball pedigree; his mother Molly (formerly Reif) won a national title at North Dakota State in 1996 while his father — before a solid football career with the Bison and the coaching expertise that came later — won a state championship with Buxton, N.D.'s Central Valley High School in 1993.
"My mom played college basketball, so she really instilled in me a love for the game," Vigen said. "So it's been an awesome journey. Just excited to finish it out with these last couple of games here."
It's not lost on Vigen that he's playing in this series against fellow all-stars from Wyoming, a state in which he lived while his father was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Craig Bohl at the University of Wyoming in Laramie from 2014-2020, prior to accepting the head job at Montana State.
Two players that Vigen grew up with through middle school — Laramie High School's Neil Summers and Jaden Smith — will play for the Wyoming All-Stars.
At 6-foot-9, Summers is in particular a player to watch. The Wyoming Gatorade player of the year is headed to play at Wyoming. Smith, meanwhile, attended Laramie Middle School with Vigen.
"I actually went down to Laramie a few weekends ago for their graduation so I could see some old friends and kind of reconnect," Vigen said. "There's been a little playful banter, a little smack talking, so I'm super excited to see them again and play against them. Just looking forward to a fun couple of games."
Last year marked a break in the trend in the boys series, as the Wyoming All-Stars, coached by Gillette College's Shawn Neary, snapped Montana's 22-game winning streak with a two-game sweep. It was the first time the Treasure Staters had lost under coach Steve Keller.
This year, though, Keller is unable to coach due to his commitment to the Great Falls Electric of The Basketball League. Helming the team this weekend is Montana Coaches Association hall of famer and 700-game winner Mike Sauvageau.
Vigen and his teammates are intent on beginning a new streak regardless of who is coaching. Montana leads the all-time series 67-29.
"We've been talking about getting the streak going towards our side again," Vigen said.
After this weekend, Vigen will turn his attention to next Saturday's Montana East-West Shrine Game in Great Falls, in which he'll strap on the football pads for the first time since the fall. Then he'll be ready to join the program at Montana State for what he hopes will be a productive career playing for his dad in a Bobcat uniform.
"I'm excited to get with the team and just learn as much as I can from the players and coaches," he said. "There's a lot to improve on in my game, but I hope that when I get there I'll be able to learn, build new relationships and just enjoy my time."
