by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
“Everyone knows the name ‘Spoonhunter’ around here because of my dad and my uncles and grandparents who were all involved with basketball,” said Trayshon Spoonhunter. “So this name helps me stand out at my school and on the court because it’s a basketball name.”
Trayshon Spoonhunter, 18, is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone tribe and is also Northern Arapaho and Oglala Lakota. His Indian name is Bearshield. His father’s name is Lamar Spoonhunter, and grandfather’s name is Harvey Spoonhunter. Trayshon is from Rapid City, South Dakota, but lives in Ethete, WY on the Wind River Reservation.
“I’m a senior and I attend 3A Lander Valley High School,” said Trayshon. “This is an off reservation school and 20 miles from where I live. I’ve attended this school all four years and I’ve earned three varsity basketball letters.”
Trayshon was recently named the 2020 Fremont County Player of the Year.
Trayshon’s team honors include being a 2018-2019 Wyoming 3A West Regional Champion, and 2018-2019 3A State Champion. His individual honors include being named 2019-2020 All-Conference, 2019-20 All-State, and a member of the 2019-20 Wyoming North All-Star Team.
“My family has a strong traditional background and are strongly connected to our heritage,” said Trayshon. “With me being a ‘rez’ kid and going to a majority white school it has made me stand out along with my friends at that school and on the court. I have danced my whole life and participated in other ceremonies. I also ride horses just about everyday around the ‘rez’ with my friends.”
“Being strongly tied to my heritage I have never ever touched drugs or alcohol,” said Trayshon. “I’ve seen what it has done to the players who I’ve looked up to as a kid so my dad was strict with me. Most people find it to be a lie when I tell them I have never done anything because it’s what everyone does around here but I’m different from everyone. Basketball means so much to me and I’ll never risk it to be thrown away by a stupid mistake.”
“I wouldn’t say there was one specific person who influenced me because even though I come from a basketball family, I’m kind of self-made,” said Trayshon. “Anyone who I have played against in the open gyms and in practices and games helped me become the player I am today. I’ve always played against the older guys, who made me really transition from middle school into high school. But my second year at high school our new head coach Stuart Mullins helped me in so many ways. He helped me on all aspects of the game and without him I don’t know how I would’ve ended up playing the last couple years. We had a really strong relationship both on and off the court.”
“We are happy for Trayshon as he moves forward to continue his education and do it while playing basketball,” said Stu Mullins, head varsity boys’ basketball coach at Lander Valley High School. “He really improved over the course of his high school career. The best thing about Trayshon is he made a decision early on that he would avoid some of the pitfalls that can occur off the court that prevent some kids from reaching their potential.”
“He is respectful to his teachers, he tried hard in school and has long term goals that he takes seriously. I’m glad that it worked out for him the way that it did,” added Coach Stu.
“I’m currently doing a workout program that will help me be more explosive and jump higher,” said Trayshon. “I can already dunk but I want to be jumping out of the gym. And I’m also doing a weight program to help me get more beefy for college.”
“Anybody who knows me knows how competitive I am,” said Trayshon. “I hate losing and will try to do anything to win. Sometimes I get in my head when I’m doing so great or if we’re losing. That has kind of been an area where I always needed work at.”
“I like to slow up the game so our team can control the game,” said Trayshon. “I can’t always count on the ‘three’, but I have to because it can be sometimes hard to feed it in the paint because they always collapse on the inside.”
Photo Credit: Kayla Romero
***Love You Son ***