Big Fish on campus: USU basketball star interns at Logan Regional Hospital

Isaac Johnson had never had what he considers a “real” job before signing on for an internship at Logan Regional Hospital this summer. Growing up in an athletic family, his responsibility from an early age was to get better and better at basketball and to earn a college scholarship.??

As he grew to 7 feet tall, he performed that job successfully, bringing a state championship to American Fork High School as a senior and receiving the nickname “Big Fish” from a classmate. Ranked the No. 53 recruit in the nation by ESPN, he signed with PAC-12 power University of Oregon, where he played for one season after serving an LDS mission in Ohio.?

After that season in Eugene, Isaac transferred to Utah State University, where he redshirted one year and became a key cog in last year’s Aggie team. That squad’s unexpected success culminated with an 88-72 first-round victory over TCU in the NCAA Tournament, a game in which Isaac scored 19 points and blocked four shots. It was USU’s first tournament win in 23 years, so the victory — and Isaac’s signature chomping motion — made him a fan favorite in Logan and among TV commentators.?

“That was the most incredible basketball experience of my life, to be able to have the best game of my college career on such a big stage,” Isaac said. “It was an incredible moment.”?

Not long after that magical run ended with a loss to No. 1 seed Purdue and national player of the year Zach Edey, Isaac was at Chipotle in Logan when he bumped into his dentist, who happened to be eating with Logan Regional Hospital president Brandon McBride. Brandon said that after meeting with Isaac to discuss his career goals, he arranged for Isaac to intern with the administrative team at Logan Regional Hospital.??

“He’s been a great addition to our admin council, and I hope he’s learning a lot from his time with us,” Brandon said. “Isaac is very bright, engaged and has an incredible future ahead of him as a healthcare leader. I’m excited to watch him grow personally and professionally and proud to have the opportunity to support his development at this stage of his learning.”?

“I wanted to learn more about healthcare administration,” said Isaac, whose major at USU is Business Management with a focus in healthcare. He is slated to graduate in the summer of 2025, although he has two years of athletic eligibility remaining. At the hospital, he sits in on leadership council meetings and has shadowed teams from marketing to human resources to the operating room.??

“It’s been interesting to see all the cogs in this big machine and how a hospital really works,” he said, adding that he has been amazed at how complex the healthcare field is. “It’s been awesome for me to see how they resolve conflicts. My goal right now is just to learn. From what I’ve seen, Logan Regional is doing a really good job within the Intermountain system.”?

Isaac is considering owning and managing assisted living facilities and possibly running a “health shopping mall” offering various care options. But all of that will have to wait until he follows through on his first job and pursues a career as a professional basketball player. (In the meantime, he has capitalized on NIL [name, image, likeness] opportunities by hosting a basketball camp in Grace, Idaho; joining with the Blue A Collective; and, best of all, partnering with Artic Circle in Logan, where customers can now order a “Big Fish” milkshake.)?

“Wherever basketball can take me, we’ll see what happens there, and when the ball stops bouncing eventually, I think healthcare is a really interesting career path that I’d like to pursue,” Isaac said, noting that there are parallels between his primary interests. He said one of the first things he learned at Logan Regional was that “problems are best solved with a team, and not just individuals making individual decisions. I kind of knew that through basketball, but being able to see that in the corporate world is really cool.”?

Isaac noticed something else: “The people who run the day-to-day tasks are the reason the hospital goes, and the reason these (administration) offices exist is to make their jobs easier.”?

Later this month, new coach Jerrod Calhoun will lead the Aggies on a foreign tour in Italy and Croatia, playing teams from across Europe. Isaac was already acquainted with Calhoun from his LDS mission days in Ohio, where the coach, then at Youngstown State, allowed the 7-footer to work out and scrimmage with his team.?

“I’m really excited for him and this upcoming year,” Isaac said.??

He won’t be alone on campus – his sister, Gracie, is a sophomore on the USU women’s basketball team. Just down the road, their older brother Spencer recently wrapped up a four-year career playing for BYU.??

But before the season tips off in November, Isaac will have a few more admin council meetings to observe as he wraps up his second job as arguably the tallest intern in the history of Intermountain.?