by By Dan Ninham
“If the unknown scares you, jump in and tell everyone else why they shouldn’t be.”
This is one of the mottos of University of California, Irvine basketball player Brad Greene.
Brad Greene, 22, is a member of the Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Tribe. He grew up in Lone Pine, California on the Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Reservation. He went to Lone Pine High School. His parents are Marjianne Yonge and David Greene.
“I am currently on the University of California, Irvine Men’s Basketball Team,” said Brad. “Last season of 2019-2020, I was named to the All-Big West Honorable Mention, and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court. In high school I was named All-League three times as an upperclassman and All-CIF my junior and senior seasons.”
“Some core values I have carried with me through school and basketball being a student-athlete are keeping family, courage, strength and keeping an open mind about the next generation,” said Brad.
“Family has always been a critical part of my life growing up,” said Brad. “I grew up with four brothers, along with grandparents living next door, and countless family members on a daily basis. Outside of my family, while playing on travel ball teams and playing at NABI (Native American Basketball Invitational) I developed a family outside of my home.”
“Family turned into those on my team, and those of Indian Country. The strength of the group and commitment to one another at the tournament showed me that there is more to family than loved ones, but a relationship to one another,” added Brad.
“Courage and strength are the other values I kept close going through school,” said Brad. “There were countless times I believed that I didn’t belong there playing. The main thing was that I had no idea what to expect and no one to ask advice from, it was all unknown to me.”
“From the lack of knowledge, lack of family, not seeing familiar faces, and lack of anyone like me at the school being Native American to gaining weight and not being the average basketball body I wanted to leave. Those are also all reasons that kept me going, to prove that I do belong and to show that I did.”
“This led me to thinking about the generations that are to come,” said Brad. “Our people lack in numbers in collegiate sports, but more importantly in higher education. This scarcity needs to be changed. That’s what I keep in mind with school and with athletics, and to succeed and push myself to help encourage the next generation to want to succeed. Hopefully they see themselves at the next level to inspire the ones after them. I hope there are more Native American collegiate athletes, and an even greater number of Native American college students.”
“People who have positively influenced me as a student athlete are Gregory Greene and GinaMarie Scarpa,” said Brad.
“Gregory Greene is my oldest brother who has influenced not only my student-athlete career but also much of my life,” said Brad. “He continually pushed me in an indirect way growing up as he was more successful in sports that I was. Once we were able to play sports together we each struggled in some aspect of school or injury that only allowed us to play a half of a season together. Never getting to compete with him really pushed me to never be left in a position where I miss competing with my team, but also miss playing where he could see me play.”
“GinaMarie Scarpa is another figure in my life that positively influenced my life as a student-athlete,” said Brad. “She is the founder and CEO of the NABI Foundation. After my years playing at NABI, GinaMaria asked me and gave me my first opportunity to not only share my knowledge of the game at a basketball clinic but also give a message to the youth. I talked about life by pushing through high school and eventually making it to college.”
“Over the years I have returned as a guest to share more about how to become a NCAA athlete,” said Brad. “I also shared my experiences so hopefully the Native youth who may have never considered college had a figure they could look up to, talk to and eventually make their own path.”
“This has pushed me to continually improve myself so that I may hope to inspire more youth,” added Brad.
Photo Credit: UCI Athletics
