Reznet

Native basketball talent exists

By Dalton Walker

It’s that time of the year again. Echoes of bouncing basketballs can be heard across the nation, including Indian Country.

Native teenagers sprint back and forth on the basketball court, possibly preparing for a postseason run at a state title.

A scene that’s all too familiar in Indian Country.

But what’s not familiar is seeing a Native sprint down a court wearing a North Carolina Tar Heels or Florida Gators jersey on national television.

State championships are claimed by Native high schools across the country. All-state members, state records held and numerous other awards or achievements can be claimed by many reservation schools.

It would seem that at least one talented Native American would have slipped through and made the starting roster of a high-powered Division I basketball program. However, that day has not come.

The only superstars we see on TV are Tennessee’s Candace Parker or Ohio State’s Greg Oden.

Both are African Americans and both are extremely talented. In five years, both will be one of, if not the best, in their profession – the NBA or WNBA.

When will our time come?

The talent lives. Basketball heroes are bred throughout Indian Country. We have the championship plaques to prove it.

The bottom line is that Native Americans are not being recruited by the upper tier college programs such as Duke, Connecticut, North Carolina, Kansas or Arizona.

Instead, college coaches recruit players from predominately large metropolitan areas or small private schools known for producing powerhouse basketball teams. Coaches have relationships with top high school programs across the country. They recruit from proven programs.

Division I coaches, if not all college coaches, are pressured to win now. If not, they are replaced with people who can.

More than likely, Roy Williams, head men’s coach at North Carolina, or Geno Auriemma, head women’s coach at Connecticut, aren’t making daily rounds to nearby reservations for prospects or to any reservation or native community.

Coaches already know where the talent is so why should they look for Native talent that may or may not exist? Why would a coach, who is pressured to win right now, try to recruit Native talent with no evidence of past success?

Word is out: All reservation kids run back to reservation. Is that true? No, but that’s what’s perceived. Stereotypes exist.

It’s not out of your hands. Prove them wrong.

Practice, practice and practice some more. Keep your grades up and avoid potential trouble such as alcohol and drugs. That can wait. College athletics can’t.

There is no off-season. Summer basketball camps are where talent is discovered. Very few knew of current NBA star Tracy McGrady before his senior year of high school. He stormed into a summer basketball camp and came out a NBA lottery draft pick.

Develop a personal highlight video. The technology exists. Promote yourself. You can’t wait for coaches to come to you. If they aren’t interested, make them. Introduce yourself. Send highlight tapes to schools that you’re interested in. Call the coaches' offices to see what their assessment is. Go through assistant coaches, managers or whomever you have to. Prove to them that you deserve to be recruited and that you deserve a chance.

Prove to them that a Native basketball star can succeed at any level.

If you don’t, who will?

Dalton Walker, Red Lake Anishinabe, is a reporter at the Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls, S.D. Walker is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and the American Indian Journalism Institute. A longtime reznet staff writer and a Chips Quinn Scholar, Walker had reporting internships at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and The New York Times.

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