by By Dan Ninham
High level athletes have many challenges to work with to maximize their performance. By resolving the challenges it will make themselves, their coaches and their teammates better.
Dylan Marshall, 17, attends White River HS, White River, SD. He will be a senior next school year.
“My Lakota name is Mato Wasaka Nazin and means Standing Strong Bear,” said Dylan. “I am Rosebud Sioux and Lakota Oyate from Rosebud, SD.”
Dylan’s major accomplishments include basketball and track:
* 2019 Lakota Nation Boys Basketball Champions
* 2019 Lakota Nation Boys Basketball All Tourney
* 2020 Jones County Boys Basketball Tournament Champions
* 2020 Jones County Boys Basketball First Team All-Tourney
* 2021 State B Boys Basketball Consolation Champions
* 2021 Western Great Plains First Team All-Conference/Boys Basketball
* 2021 State B Boys Basketball All Tourney
* 2021 State B Track eight place in triple jump and ninth place in long jump
Dylan talked about his core tribal values in relation to being a student-athlete: “The four core tribal values of the Lakota that I believe define me as an athlete are perseverance, sacrifice, truth and compassion. Perseverance is an essential value that has helped me to stay focused even when things are not going well and working hard to become better. Sacrifice is another value that has helped me to understand there are times when I have to forego what I would rather do, like playing video games. Also, there are times that my ego has to be set aside and sacrificed for what’s good for the team or a game. Truth is a core value that is necessary to be a whole human and includes being truthful with yourself, parents, friends, coaches and other people. Compassion is a value that has helped me to understand that not all of us are great at all things in life and that when we are given talents and abilities, we need to be patient and compassionate with those who have to work harder and it helps me to appreciate the abilities that I have been blessed with. Loyalty is also a core value that I feel strongly about because I feel I am fully committed to my teammates, family, school, community and more importantly, to myself. I think loyalty/commitment is a value that has been lost.”
Student-athletes are striving to be the best individually but also think team first.
“Definitely a state basketball championship and college are in my plan,” said Dylan. “I have been approached by some college coaches and I have not decided at this point in time. Regardless of whether I play sports or not, I will be going to college.”
“I have been fortunate to have many positive mentors in my life,” said Dylan.
“I had the chance to Coach Dylan his freshman and sophomore year,” said Jared Bouman, assistant boys’ basketball coach at White River HS. “Dylan is as hard of a working athlete as there is. He spends a ton of time in the gym and weight room. His competitive fire and willingness to put his body on the line makes him hard to guard in the open court. He has a great get to the basket game and his outside shooting is steadily improving.”
“Dylan embodies everything you want as a human and athlete involved with your programs and community,” said Justice Morrison, assistant boys’ basketball coach at White River HS. “He is as hardworking as they come. I’ve watched him since he was very little when he was a manager when I played for Coach Marshall and now I get to coach him. He always had this incredible passion for everything he does.”
“Dylan competes hard and respects whatever sport he is playing. He is a great leader and an absolute coach’s dream. His ability to lead is one of the best I’ve seen come from White River and that is a direct result of the amount of time he spends improving not only his athletic abilities but who he is as a human. He sets an example for all of us on how you should approach anything: work extremely hard and good things will happen. It’s been an absolute privilege to coach him. He will be leaving our program better than he found it,” added Justice.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have watched Dylan grow up and grow into quite the basketball player,” said Nick Sayler, friend and former teammate. “Dylan was a freshman my junior season. Over the course of that season and now Dylan is a starting guard as a sophomore on a top five team in the state.”
“There were a couple key moments where Dylan solidified that he was going to be more than just an average player. We went maybe one or two deep in our bigger games during that season. Dylan was a key component to the Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) championship team and was named to the All-Tournament Team,” added Nick.
“The second thing is his dribble to the free throw line and pull up game winner vs Howard,” said Nick. “I still follow the team diligently and I have a few things to mention that I’ve noticed Dylan has improved upon. His offensive game has improved, once he gets going downhill it is very hard to stop him. He has added a mid-range jump shot that is not guardable, and he has improved his three point shot.”
“He also controls the pace of the game very well. The most important thing that you can’t see is how hard he works. His work ethic is what has really paved the way to where his game is going. If you watched the State Tournament last year, you would’ve saw a Dylan Marshall that no one has seen before, which resulted in an All-Tournament selection,” added Nick.
“One of the biggest challenges that I have faced is having my dad as my basketball coach,” said Dylan. “People seem to think that coach’s kids get favored. Not this coach’s kid! A lot of times I felt I would get the brunt of the blame out of my dad’s frustration not only with me, but also with the other guys on the team.
“I started to get defiant and angry with my dad. My dad and I have worked at communicating better and we’ve learned to talk more and I have a better understanding of my dad’s position and he has a better understanding of mine. I feel like I have grown into a better player and an even better person because of our experiences,” added Dylan.
“Dylan is my son and it’s been a learning experience for both of us to figure out how to work together on and off the court regarding basketball,” said Eldon Marshall, head boys’ basketball coach at White River HS. “I’ve coached Dylan since he was in second grade and I feel over the years I’ve been very demanding of him and have very high expectations of him and his teams.”
“There have been many times when I would be very negative with him when mistakes are made by him or his teammate. I would take my frustrations out on him verbally and with negative body language. He’s dealt with my behavior over the years very well but it has led to a few conflicts that could have been prevented,” added Eldon.
“Fortunately, we have worked on our communication skills with each other and our relationship has improved on the court and especially off of it,” said Eldon. “I still have very high expectations of him, as I do of all my players, but I’ve worked on becoming more empathetic toward him. I do my best not to embarrass him, it’s still a work in progress but we’re working on it.”
“I feel since our communication and relationship has improved, his leadership skills have improved,” said Eldon.” He’s one of our hardest workers, he’s become stronger physically and mentally, and he’s becoming a verbal leader. He has put in a lot of effort and work to get better and he’s becoming a very good all-around player.”
“I’m looking forward to working with him in his final year of high school,” said Eldon.
Photo Credit: Marc Marshall
