LOWELL, Mich. — After graduating college, most young adults are motivated to get right into the workforce. However, two best friends, living in Lowell, are not sticking to the status quo.
Instead, they're using this period to pursue the experience of a lifetime. Their reasoning can be compressed into two words — Why not?
Trey Howard, 22, and Quan Brown, 22, met in high school in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Howard landed there around the age of 13 after growing up in East Grand Rapids.
They both graduated from East Carolina University in May. Howard earned a Business Management degree with a minor in Entrepreneurship. Brown studied Exercise Science.
Instead of immediately injecting themselves into the real world, they are using a post-college pause to create lifelong memories.
“It is it's a crazy thing," Howard said. "It's something that, you know, I would have never imagined that I'm doing.”
That 'thing' is a gap year — a time after school when some people take a break before entering the next stage of life.
They don't just want any kind of gap year, though.
“The plan is to make it the best possible gap year that anyone's ever done," Howard said.
Fittingly, Howard and Brown call themselves the @GapYearGuys on TikTok. Their groundbreaking journey will take them on a tour of the NBA, going to every single stadium to watch a game.
“Originally, we're thinking like, 'Oh, we drive around the country, maybe we look for the best hot dogs around the country,'" Howard said. "We're like, 'No, that's not really us.' Then we kind of landed on the NBA because that is us.”
Brown added, “When (Howard's) mom brought the idea up, I’m like, 'That’s…What? There's no way that's ever gonna happen. It's just not realistic.'”
Not only is it happening, but it's less than two weeks away.
Their tour starts with a trip to San Francisco to watch the Golden State Warriors take on the Phoenix Suns on October 24th, the NBA's opening night.
Then, they will travel 23,000+ miles in 88 days to visit every single arena, ending in North Carolina to watch the Charlotte Hornets host the San Antonio Spurs on January 19.
“Might get annoyed a little bit," Brown joked.
Howard said, "I was like, 'Man, you better you better enjoy this because over the next three months, you are never going to be more than six feet away at any given moment.'”
They've reached out to every single NBA team to explain their plan. Most have responded willing to help, whether that be through free tickets or providing special experiences, like hanging out with players and opening up locker room access.
"At its very worst, we come out of it with all these awesome experiences, all these awesome stories," Howard said. "At its best, this is a big, kind of, launching platform for what we want to do after.”
What they want to do is use their own dream to create one for others through their designer basketball brand Treyball.
“I had some friends that they had to drop out of college," Howard said. "We went in together...and then all of a sudden, they gotta leave. They're gone because they just can't, you know, afford to stay there, which sucks. So we made a scholarship fund around Treyball...they can get that education and they can, you know, continue on the track of life that they want to be on, rather than have it stunted because of something like money.”
It's a philanthropic ripple effect, formed by the fantasy of two best friends.
"I've always wanted to, like, inspire the next generation and being someone that they can look up to," Brown said. "We can do this.”
The @GapYearGuys have a meet-and-greet fundraiser planned for this Saturday, October 14, at Sneaker's in Lowell. They are looking to raise money for the trip because traveling the country is expensive.
Plus, they don't even have a car yet!
If you want to help out, you can attend the event or Venmo them at @OfficialGapYearGuys.