Lakota a hot bed for city’s basketball talent

Clay Williams never got upset the day his team neither won nor lost the district championship in 2013.

Williams and the Lakota Middle School Falcons boys basketball program tied in the district championship against Illahee that afternoon. Williams didn’t frown because none of his players appeared visibly upset.

“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game,” Williams’ players reminded him after the game.

Williams said coaching middle school basketball is vastly different than high school. He takes more pride in making sure his players have a higher moral compass than final score. The coaching philosophy has worked as Lakota has bounced back to win the district championship in three of the last four seasons.

No one has reaped the benefits of Williams’ coaching philosophy more than Decatur boys basketball coach David Choi.

Choi has inherited a majority of Williams’ championship players over the last four years. Players such as Les Sessoms, Kevin Robello and Bradley Graham have graduated from Lakota to Decatur basketball.

Choi said the impact Williams leaves on his incoming freshmen is evident right off the bat.

“Lately, we’ve been getting a majority of those kids,” Choi said. “And what I’ve found is that the kids that come here from Lakota always have a positive impact on our program, and they always leave it better than they found it.”

There’s a culture change going on within Lakota Middle School basketball.

Williams said this year, more than any year before, he’s noticing his players have a higher concentration of focus.

A focus which includes hard work, but also a devotion to treating others the right way.

“They just want to be good teammates,” Williams said. “They are so excited to learn. Middle school is about learning the fundamentals, whether it’s in class or on the court.”

Williams described the 2016 district championship team as one with high character traits.

He said he sees a mirror image of last season’s team in his 2017 squad.

This year’s team is filled with hard workers. Kids who aren’t waiting until January to focus on basketball. Williams said this team is working on basketball at lunch or after school. He has a group of kids dying to consume the game.

“We’ve got a lot of hard workers this year,” Williams said. “They want to be good teammates. They spending time together already. They just want to learn every day, so that’s really exciting.”

The basketball attitude at Lakota starts with the coaching royalty it employs.

The Falcons receive coaching help from notable high school coaches such as Danny Graham, an assistant at Federal Way High School.

Another regular on the Lakota campus is Irv Stevenson. Stevenson used to coach high school basketball in the area. He also helped Williams coach the team to the district championship last season.

When players first come to Lakota as a sixth grader, they start in the program under former football coach Sam White.

“All those coaches have a lot of experience,” Williams said. “We’re really fortunate at Lakota to have these coaches preparing the kids as they’re coming up, teaching the kids about basketball because of their experience.”

Part of the coaching preparation at Lakota is a balance between academics and athletics.

Williams said it’s this balance between academics and athletics that’s helped the Falcons win championships over the last four seasons.

He said through his coaching experience he’s found that players with a passion for academics tend to pick up coaching instruction faster and perform at a much higher level.

“In class you have to pay attention,” Williams said. “And focus on details. There are fundamental skills where, if you don’t pay attention to specific details, you’re not going to be successful.”

On the first day of practice, Williams, a language arts teacher, talks to his players about a comparison. He compares basketball to writing a thesis statement.

Williams talks about what makes a successful thesis statement, support and evidence. He tells his players if attention to detail is missed, such as taking notes in class, they won’t have enough evidence to support their claims.

Williams said he wants to see at least one expression of, “what does this have to do with basketball?” before tying everything together.

“If you aren’t focused on being in the proper defensive stance,” Williams said. “It seems like a simple thing. But there’s a lot that goes into it. It’s hard to do because it takes effort and desire. If you’re not doing that, you’re going to get beat.”

Lakota basketball has also been blessed with a bit of luck.

Williams himself has inherited sixth graders who display an immediate high level of athletic prowess. Over the last few seasons, he has brought kids into the Falcons’ program who already have a basketball background.

But no matter if it’s luck or pure talent, as Williams experienced after the loss in 2013, the Lakota Falcons are never short on passion.

“These player have just a pure passion for playing basketball,” Williams said. “They want to do their best, be successful and be great teammates. We’ve been blessed with kids who want to do those things.”