by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
“She sets examples off the court with her academics and extracurriculars. On the court she sets examples in the form of leadership by not losing focus and having good sportsmanship. She is always someone that can be there for you.” These are the words of a mother describing her high school basketball player daughter.
Mimi Beaulieu-Morgan is a 5-3 SG/PG for Menominee Indian HS in Keshena, WI. She is averaging 22.4 ppg, 3 rpg and 4 apg. The team’s record is 4-4.
“I am a part of both the Ojibwe and Menominee tribes,” said Mimi. “I am from Red Lake, MN but currently living in Keshena, WI. My parents are Devin Beaulieu-Morgan Sr. and Brooke Kelley. My Dad is Ojibwe (Red Lake Band) and Seminole. My Mom is Menominee and Ojibwe (Lac Du Flambeau Band). Both my Mom and Dad are residents of the Menominee Indian Reservation in WI.”
“My Indian name is Wassegonebiik, meaning ‘the action when lightening fills the sky,’” said Mimi.
“The Seven Grandfather Teachings are my tribal core values,” said Mimi. “The teachings are something I was taught to implement into my life at a very young age. Now, they have become natural to me on and off the court. Respect: if you want to be respected on or off the court, then you need to earn it and treat others with respect. Honesty: to be honest in both my failures and successes. Humility: you are stronger when humble about your accomplishments. Wisdom: with hard work comes the development of knowledge, I try to share my knowledge on and off the court with teammates, peers, and loved ones. Truth: always be truthful and loyal. Love: care about those around you and always show love. Courage: don’t let harmful energy encourage you to not do what you believe is right.”
“My Dad was really one of the main reasons why I started playing basketball and influenced me to take the sport seriously,” said Mimi. “He had dreams set for me to play at the collegiate level by the time I had first picked up the ball and has helped me improve every season since. He is my main supporter on and off the court.”
“My Mom is another person that has always been in my corner with education and athletics,” said Mimi. “She is the reason I began playing AAU basketball. She never had a problem with bringing me to practices and trainings that were almost two hours away. She loves traveling with me and watching me develop as a player, and as a role model. She tells me every day how much she believes in me and to always keep pushing no matter what obstacles come my way.”
“Coach Nas Solsaa, my AAU coach, was one of the coaches that believed in me the most,” said Mimi. “Over the two years I played for her she’s helped me develop my game quicker than ever. She has always thought more of me than I think of myself at times. I consider her family.”
“My AAU coach Ally Gwidt has always been my hype-woman since the day I first met her,” said Mimi. “She taught me to be fearless and confident on and off the court. She always told me, ‘never ride the highs too high and the lows too low.’ That quote means a lot to me on and off the court. I consider her family as well.”
“Mimi is a phenomenal athlete but an even better person,” said Coach Ally. “She’s the type of athlete to turn a team into a family. Her ability to not only bring the best out in her teammates on the court but off the court is what makes her so unique. Mimi is especially hard to guard because she’s the type of player that understands her role. If her shots aren’t falling, she’ll find other ways to be effective for her team; That’s the type of selflessness that fails to show in a scouting report — that’s the type of selflessness that’ll compete every time.”
“My NAIG Team Wisconsin Coach James Crawford inspires me to be confident and keep working the way that I have been,” said Mimi. “Even though I am one of the youngest that tried out for our Team WI 19U Team, he still saw something in me. I don’t plan on letting him down this summer either.”
“My track coach and one of my main mentors, Corey Webster, continues to teach me that nothing is impossible if you are willing to work for it,” said Mimi. “He pushes me to my limits in school and athletics, he taught me to be limitless. He is always trying to help me get looked at more and recruited.”
“Mimi is a relentless athlete,” said Coach Corey, MIHS Track and Field program. “She is always trying to get better. I remember her spending the entire summer shooting 1000 three-pointers a day, and every day. She plays on summer teams to get better and is a leader. She encourages teammates in competition and practices. Mimi respects teammates and their commitment as well.”
As a student athlete Mimi has accomplished Academic All-Conference awards. She is currently ranked #1 in her class at Menominee Indian HS with a GPA of 3.8. Mimi was nominated for the Congress for Global Good Award of Excellence, and she has been taking college classes at the College of Menominee Nation since her sophomore year. She was awarded Second Team All-Conference for the 2018-2019 basketball season her sophomore year. Mimi has multiple MVA (Most Valuable Athlete) awards, and she holds her schools 4×200, 4×400, 4×800, and 2-mile record for track and is a two-time sectional qualifier as well. She currently holds the record for most three pointers in a basketball game for boys and girls at Menominee Indian HS. Last summer she received her first college offer from John Wood Community College (JWCC) located in Quincy, IL.
“Some advice I would give to other student athletes who want to become successful on and off the court is to never be afraid to work alone,” said Mimi. “Oftentimes people want to get better but don’t go out and do it because they don’t have someone to work with. Working alone isn’t something you should be embarrassed or nervous about. Sometimes solo work can be the best work. There were plenty of times I’ve spent hours in the gym, on the court, or on the track just really focusing on little things and trying to make myself better in different aspects. If you want something you have to go get it. No one is going to do that for you. Don’t let anything stop you from something you truly want to accomplish. That really goes for anything in life.”
Mimi is gaining service-learning experience by giving back to the sport of basketball. She and a teammate coach an elementary girls’ team. “Another teammate and I coach a third-fourth grade girls hoops team,” said Mimi. “Since the girls are at very young ages practices are mainly fundamentally based. We want to make sure they’re well rounded as basketball players and teammates. The hardest part about coaching is oftentimes the girls just want to have fun and mess around because they’re young. Which is understandable, we still push through those times and always encourage them to have fun, so they continue to love the game and hopefully turn into great athletes as they progress.
“Mimi has possessed natural leadership which began to arise from a very young age,” said Brooke Kelley. “She was always very disciplined. These qualities have helped her to be the person and student-athlete that she is today.”
“Mimi does a lot for youth sports here in Keshena,” said dad Devin Beaulieu Morgan. “Last year she was my assistant coach for the fifth-grade girls basketball team and this year her and a teammate co-coach both the fourth and fifth grade girls’ teams. She connects with her players so well, and it’s an amazing thing to watch. Mimi works harder than I’ve ever seen anybody work, and such a blessing to see it all materialize.”
“In her younger years, Mimi didn’t partake in goofing off much, nor did she involve herself with counterproductive things,” said Brooke. “If it didn’t help her to succeed, she didn’t want any part of it. She has always tried her best at everything by putting her best foot forward and keeping her head clear. Whenever obstacles threatened her goals, she found ways to stay focused. I think that Mimi realized early in life that if she wanted something, she had to work for it and the harder she worked for it the better. If Mimi wanted good grades, she did what was necessary whether that be staying up late to complete projects or doing homework in car rides or on the bus. In her early years of fourth-fifth grade this adaptation showed. A child at that age should be playing outside with friends or doing child-like things but Mimi was different. She would go to school, go to practice (for whatever sport she was in) then go to basketball practice. A lot of the time she was in the basement working on pitching, ball handling, or learning to serve a volleyball. Sometimes with all that was going on she would get home around 9 pm every night. After getting home she didn’t crawl into bed and rest her tired body from the day’s events but rather she put her head in the books and completed homework assignments because getting good grades were at the top of her priority list. Mimi always took great pride in good grades.”
“As a high schooler that same outlook at life is still fueling her motivation. She maintains good grades and is top of her class. She is a great role model, to the community and to her 11 siblings (another on the way) so she also lets that motivate her. I think that there can be a lot said about her off-court leadership qualities. One for example is the fact that she coaches a 4th grade hoops team. I’m very excited to witness this,” added Brooke.
“In athletics she does her best and then some,” said Brooke. “She finds ways to improve her abilities and creates more opportunities for herself. Playing varsity level sports as a freshman and taking on college as a sophomore are important. Generally, juniors and seniors are given this opportunity, but a counselor reached out and began the process to get her started as soon as possible.”
“Mimi wants to major in pre-med and get into sports medicine with the specialty on orthopedics while minoring in psychology. She ‘wants to help people.’ I was so happy when she told me this. Mimi has always been driven about being successful and doing something that would help people. When she was a little girl she wanted to go to Harvard and become a rocket scientist. I think she had an outside influence in the form of one of her father’s friends who was a native American and attending Harvard (Duane Meat). So, when the school contacted me about her going to college, I was ecstatic because medical school can be costly, and I don’t want her to worry about anything but her end goal. Hopefully by the time Mimi graduates high school she will have a 2-year degree from the College of Menominee Nation,” said Brooke.
“During Mimi’s freshman year she worked her way to a starting role on the varsity girls’ basketball team,” said Brooke. “The team and former Coach Rice saw that she possessed talent and leadership. She was put in some tough spots at that age in some tough games but no matter how it ended she got back up and dusted herself off. Some games she was given the ball at the last seconds or she was directed to face guard one person.”
“Mimi shows exemplary awareness on the court by being the guard that she is, often times opposing teams know her as a shooter and try to stop her and by doing so they may leave holes in their defensive which enables Mimi to create a play. Mimi has a passion for the game like no other and we can see this in her by how she goes above and beyond what coaches ask of her. She spends many hours in the gym shooting, dribbling, and working on speed. I believe she motivates people to be better and to do better. To top it all off she has the will to win, humbly,” added Brooke.
“I have coached Mimi for the last two years in high school,” said Coach Mike Skenadore. “Before that she and I crossed paths a couple of times in the local hoops program.
Mimi is an extremely hard-working basketball player. She uses her gym time well and is always working on her game, trying to expand beyond being an outstanding three-point shooter.”
“As far as her outside game we run a number of sets her way looking to free her up and she has responded very well. She set a school record with 10 three pointers against Bowler earlier in the year and she continues to shoot at about a 40% rate from three. Not only is she and excellent shooter but she is willing to take shots at the most crucial times. We continue to see box-and-one defenses against her and she is willing to draw the defense so other players can get opportunities. After her second team All-Conference sophomore season, we set the goal of getting the ball out of her hands more and getting her to move and run off screens. She has become a much better catch and shoot player,” added Coach Mike.
“Mimi is willing to accept almost any challenge on the basketball court,” said Coach Mike. “She frequently steps up to take on the opposition’s best guard and sometimes even their best post. She doesn’t make a big deal out of this. She simply comes into the huddle and says something like ‘Give me the big girl.’”.
“She also works very hard at her academics as well as her athletics. She is at or near the top of her class and continues to challenge herself by taking college prep courses and classes at the College of Menominee Nation. Her athletic and academic goals align with her playing in college,” added Coach Mike.
There are a number of division III and community colleges that have made inquiries about her which is impressive for a junior from a relatively small school like Menominee Indian. MIHS Coach Mike Skenadore fully expects that list to grow as Mimi continues to develop and impress.
Photo Credits: Morgan Rode of New Media and Jen Hogenson
