by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
The Haskell Indian Nations University men’s basketball team is preparing for their conference tournament this weekend. The team ended the regular season with a five-game winning streak, have three 1000-point scorers, and have won their most games (16) since becoming an NAIA institution twenty years ago.
The head coach of the Haskell Indian Nations University men’s basketball team is Matthew Downing, Jr. This is his fifth year coaching and he has a 16-13 record this season.
Coach Matthew Downing, Jr. has a stellar coaching and playing resume’. He has developed his current roster of his recruiting classes to be the best they can be.
“I have coached at every level from elementary to collegiately for over 25 years,” said Coach Matthew. “I lived in Lawrence Kansas since 2000 where I have established deep basketball roots in the community. I’ve trained some of the best players to come out of the state of Kansas including Semi Ojeleye, the current all-time leading scorer in Kansas High School Basketball and current Boston Celtic. I’ve also trained or coached 30 Div. 1 players and approx. 80 lower level collegiate players. I spent the bulk of my coaching years personally training and coaching at the high school level. I played under Brad Underwood while at Dodge City Community College. He is the current Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Illinois University. I also played for Hall of Fame Coach Gary Williams at the University of Maryland.”
All teams have highs and lows during the season and the Haskell men’s basketball program and individual athletes are no different.
“The season has had it’s share of setbacks as we lost some players due to suspensions for the incident in Northern New Mexico (see link below), as well as a handful of team rule violations that led to some players being suspended,” said Coach Matthew. “During that time, we also had a high for us as a team as well. Although we were short on numbers and missing key pieces to our team our other guys stepped up and played well winning four of the five games.”
Preparation For The Post-Season: 2020 Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament
The Haskell Indian Nations University men’s basketball team is the sixth seed in the conference tournament. The top three finishers receive an automatic bid to the NAIA DII national tournament. No. 6 seed Haskell plays tournament host and No. 3 seed Lincoln College (MO) this Friday, February 27 at 4:45 pm. Friday’s winners will advance to two semi-final games on Saturday, February 28 and the national championship will be on Sunday, February 29.
“I think we have the confidence that we could be and we are a good team. Once we were whole again that is when our focus turned to positioning ourselves for the conference tournament. We felt that if got ourselves in a good seeding position that we could play our way to the NAIA National Tournament. We’ve been of that mindset since the middle of December,” added Coach Matthew.
Haskell has one goal for the conference tournament: win! Coach Matthew Downing, Jr. has a game plan ready to go. “We simply need to execute. I don’t think we need to do anything out of character to win. I believe we have enough talent and experience to win three games in Lincoln. In my opinion, these games will come down to two to five possessions. So, we are locked in, focused and ready to execute our game plan and we will see good results.”
Upperclassmen Highlights
Tristan Keah-Tigh
Tristan is a 5-10, senior guard from the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. He attended Orange Park High School in Jacksonville, Florida.
“The season has had a lot of ups and downs,” said Tristan. “Unfortunately I got hurt the first game with a high ankle sprain and tried to play through it which delayed my recovery time. I was suspended for five games for an on-court incident that made me learn from my mistakes. My team played great without me and they were getting the job done now when I came back. I was anxious to be back with my team and currently going into playoffs we’re on a five-game win streak. In the last eight games I’ve played in since I’ve been back I’ve averaged 20.6 ppg.”
“We’re preparing for the playoffs by watching film and taking it one game at a time,” said Tristan. “Obviously we’re thinking of winning the conference tournament but after last years playoff loss on a buzzer beater it’s left a bitter taste in our mouth especially since we’re returning the same starting five. Our biggest thing is when we lost last year we immediately thought of how we’re gonna get better, how we’re gonna win and we’ve put it to the test this year with all the adversity. We finished with a positive record for the first time since they’ve been an NAIA school. I think we’ll have a great chance to be conference champions if we do what we’re supposed to do with all the talent we have. We have a deep team with three 1,000-point scorers with Bryon Elledge, Nakia Hendricks, and me. You go down the list of shooters we have and leaders like Antwon Winn who’s our best defensive player and can shoot the 3 and then Xavier Little Head who’s a sharpshooter along with Kobey O’Rourke and Aspen LaPointe. Just be on the lookout after the first round on Friday because we can win it.”
Xavier ‘Sonny’ Little Head
Xavier is a 6-4, junior forward and he is Northern Cheyenne/Navajo. He attended St Labre Indian Catholic in Ashland, Montana.
“This regular season was no ordinary one,” said Xavier. “I don’t think there was one game where everyone suited up, many players were injured or out for different reasons, throughout our season. I don’t think we were at full force. One game we played with six players and still won. We still had the best NAIA Haskell regular season record yet, and we’re over .500. This upcoming conference tournament everyone will finally be healthy and suit up.”
“Our season had a lot of ups and downs, but we learned from the downs. Our scrimmages in practice have never been better. Our timed shooting drills have never been better, we really are turning into the team we knew we could be. A lot of us are taking extra time to go and shoot before practice and put in extra work, and it’s good to see that.”
Nakia Hendricks, Jr.
Nakia is a 6-7, senior center and is Mashpee/Wampanoag from Mashpee, Massachusetts. He attended Mashpee High School.
Nakia earned the A.I.I. Player of the Week honor on January 6, 2020. He averaged 15.5 points and 14.5 rebounds with victories over Northern New Mexico College and Wilberforce University (Ohio).
“A low point for me this season was having to play in games when we only had seven players. Our team was going through a lot of growing pains with suspensions and injuries. I sat out for the first semester because I only had one eligible semester left. I was only allowed to play one semester and I chose the second semester. A high point was sharing senior night with my friends and teammates.”
“Reaching my 1000th career point was a high point with my two friends Tristan and Brian. This was a great accomplishment. We’re preparing ourselves for the tournament by trusting one another. We have one of the best backcourts in our league. It’s going to come down to whoever wants it more. Our team has been through so much adversity this year. I know come tournament we will be ready to make history, win our conference and to compete for a national title come March.
Bryon Elledge
Bryon is a 5-9, senior guard and is Kiowa and Cheyenne Arapaho. He went to EL Reno High School in EL Reno, OK.
“I wouldn’t say we had some lows just getting a feel for each other because we had a few new bodies come in this year,” said Bryon. “We had to adjust with one another and after that we were fine. We had nothing too bad for us to have any lows. A high would be we stay together in the end and one of us might bump heads here and there but we always end up making it right with each other. We protect each other and more than anything we encourage each other even if a person isn’t have a good day shooting. We still tell each other to keep shooting and that they are doing fine.”
“We have made some adjustments to our offense and defense for it to be easier for us to guard. The big thing for us going into the conference tournament is just staying together and having fun and that’s what we do. We ain’t a serious type of team and think about stuff. We are more like fun ‘not thinking and more doing it type’ of team so as long as we are together and having fun we will be fine.”
Antwon Winn
Antwon is a 6-2, senior guard and is from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He went to Belton High School, Belton, Missouri.
“My team highs for this season are that we’re very confident and our senior group are very talented,” said Antwon. “We have been here before and we know exactly what it takes to win games and succeeding especially coming into this tournament. We also have a positive record that hasn’t been done for over 20 years at Haskell.”
“We are preparing for this tournament by valuing the basketball and limiting our turnovers. We plan to execute more with our plays. I would say I have a successful senior season,” added Antwon.
Wider Impact Of Support
There is a wider impact of support within and outside of the walls at Haskell Indian Nations University.
“I am very proud of the efforts put in by the coaches and players to construct the best win loss season Haskell has had since we became a four-year university,” said Gary Tanner, Athletic Director of Haskell Indian Nations University. “They have worked hard and had to overcome obstacles on their way to this great year. There is a good chance they will qualify for the national tournament. If they do, it will put a nice ending to a very good year. They are giving Indian Country a very respectable year.”
“My wife and I played at Haskell Indian junior College,” said Ernie Stevens, Jr., Chairman and Chief Spokesman representing Indian Casino Industry in Washington DC.
“Our five children played basketball and graduated from the best college in the whole world. Our oldest son Brandon is currently the President of the Haskell Indian Nations University Board of Regents.”
“I am very excited for our Haskell basketball teams and wish the men’s team success. I have the great honor of having Haskell men’s team host a College Basketball invitational in my name,” added Ernie.
“To see this team find success this year is truly what drives the emotions of an alumnus like myself,” said Ernie. “I am just one of so many student-athletes who have had their lives changed by success on the court and most importantly in the classroom. While my degree and support from teachers, coaches and administration has driven my life accomplishments, basketball is what set that table!”
“I am excited to see what the men’s basketball team can do in the post-season,” said Brady Fairbanks, Haskell’s only NAIA All American player and current head coach at Leech Lake Tribal College (MN). “They have gotten better every year since Coach Downing took over. Having coached and watched these young men grow over the past five years has shown what direction the program is going in. Good luck Men!”
Photo Credit: Haskell Indian Nations University Athletics
The A.I.I. Conference tournament webpage is located here: http://www.aiisports.com/article/2204.php
The incident at New Mexico is located here:
