by By Dan Ninham
Jaylin Reveles, 17, is a senior at El Reno High School in OK.
“I am Pawnee/Cheyenne and Arapaho,” said Jaylin. “I am from the Skidi Band of Pawnee, Bear Clan of Otoe Missouria, and Greasy Leggings Clan of Arapaho.”
“I grew up playing mostly every sport with my younger brothers and cousins,” said Jaylin. “As I grew older my main focuses were softball and basketball, until I hit high school where I mainly focused just in basketball.”
“My biggest accomplishments are being named Suburban Conference Newcomer of the Year as a freshman in 2018, making history for the El Reno Girls Basketball Program for the first ever win in the state tournament and the first ever state championship appearance where we were the 2018-19 State Runner-Up, and becoming an Oklahoma Girls Basketball Coaches Association All-State 2021 and Oklahoma Native All-State 2021.”
“I influence young Native American girls in the community of El Reno,” said Jaylin. “Most of these girls never had or have a role model to look up to so I took it upon myself to make sure that they’d have someone to look up to. I wanted to prove to all the young girls from Darlington that Native girls can shine on a big stage and be successful in such a big basketball world of Oklahoma.”
“The people who have influenced me most are my cousin Arianna Long, because I grew up playing with her my whole life,” said Jaylin. “She was the person I always looked up to and asked for advice. She’s like a big sister to me and to see her going to college and succeeding influences me, and I want to do the same.”
“Jaylin has always been a competitive player,” said Arianna Long. “I think playing with her makes you want to play harder. When we’re losing and we’re down she still gives it 110%, and pushes us to keep going. She’s also quiet, but I think this year with school ball she has stepped up to be a leader for her team, and they made it to state!”
“My coach Jennifer Douglas pushed me to become a better player,” said Jaylin. “She has helped me get my name out there. If it wasn’t for her giving me a chance throughout high school, I don’t think I’d be playing at the next level or even be playing basketball at all. We have such a great relationship and I can go to her about anything and everything.”
“My parents Jaime and James Reveles always pushed me to be great and were always on me about my grades,” said Jaylin. “They always made sure I got what I needed or made sure I got to where I need to be whether that be to practice, games, or trainings. They’re always at every game cheering me on, no matter how busy they are.”
“Our team, families, school, and community came together during the crazy pandemic times to help ensure we had a season,” said Jaylin. “Most of our team decided to do virtual school so we could almost quarantine ourselves. We as a team felt we needed to sacrifice, so we could have a season.”
“During practices we wore masks and took more breaks to sanitize. When we traveled we made sure we all had masks and used hand sanitizer regularly. Anytime we went to an away game, we did not use balls provided from the home team, our coaches made sure we only used our own balls. During games, we were not required to wear masks. But as soon as the games were over, we had to put them back on,” added Jaylin.
“The biggest difference I noticed was our fan base,” said Jaylin. “We usually have a huge crowd and a big student section. This year we were only allowed two family members at each game. Therefore, our gym was not packed and we didn’t get to play in front of our student body. Lastly, we were unable to have a complete season since we only had 21 games.”
“Normally, whenever we make it all the way to the State Semi-finals, we typically have 28 or 29 total games. With Covid-19 precautions from other teams and bad weather, some of our games were cancelled,” added Jaylin.
Photo Credit: Dakota Wahkinney
