BUTTE — With the Oklahoma City Thunder on the precipice of the NBA Finals, Josh Huestis, who spent four seasons with the franchise between 2015-18, jokingly lamented that his professional playing days are behind him.
"I go, 'I could still play. I still got it,'" he said. "Then I get out of bed in the morning and I hear my knees crack. I have to straighten my back. I'm good for a few up-and-downs, but that's about it."
The Great Falls CMR product and Stanford graduate is now 33 years old, and while his pro career may be over, he's been busy carving out a new chapter as a mentor to Montana's youth through his Josh Huestis Foundation.
Case in point: This past weekend, Huestis hosted his third Montana Elite Invitational at Montana Tech's HPER Complex where dozens of the top high school players and collegiate prospects from across the Treasure State got to showcase their skills in front of college coaches.
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"Some of these kids have been here for every single (Montana Elite Invitational) and I've seen them go from freshmen to now they're going to be seniors," said Huestis. "Seeing them develop as human beings and develop as basketball players, honestly it's the highlight of my year. I really do enjoy this, and I hope to continue it for a long time."
The inspiration behind this camp was fostered during Huestis's high school career with the Rustlers, when he faced challenges getting looks from colleges.
"Recruiting coming out of Montana is a very uphill battle," he said. "We're a very rural state and, to be honest, I feel like there's a lot of athletes here that get overlooked just because of where they're from.
"I was just trying to put the best players in one place and have them compete and bring the college coaches to them and give them a chance to play on a big platform and be seen."
