by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Hannah Golus was named the Mon-Dak Conference Player of the Week on January 23, 2020. During a 1-1 week, she scored 36 points, had 20 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, and 3 blocked shots. She is averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds per game this season.
Hannah Golus is a 5 ’10, freshman basketball player at United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND. She is enrolled in the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe/Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Her parents are Wade Person and Suzie Golus and they live in Bismarck.
“My tribal values have a lot to do with family and respect,” said Hannah. “Everything I do, whether it is sports, school, or my life in general it revolves around family. Family is where I learned to respect everyone and everything and I take that to the court with me every time I play. It plays a hand in everything I do.”
“Some important influencers in my life are my parents and my family,” said Hannah. “They have always been able to help me become better and encourage me to work harder. They continuously push me to become a better student and athlete.”
“I believe Hannah had very strong leadership skills at a young age and carry over to high school and college,” said mom Suzie Golus. “Hannah is a very remarkable human being and she has made a huge impact on and off the court. Hannah put her own time in volunteering when she can like working at the soup kitchen ‘Heaven’s Helper’. If you teach your kids at a young age to volunteer, it helps keep them grounded as a person and Hannah is very humble. Hannah makes an impact on and off the court with her confident leadership skills that makes her brave as a leader.”
“Hannah can empower her teammates and helps build good leadership roles, and as a leader I feel she inspires others to be motivated. Hannah has adapted very well as a young lady this day and age and keeps her balanced with her family, friends and teammates. Hannah has a heart of gold that makes her a great leader, and is a kind, very devoted, strong minded, brilliant, beautiful inside and out and her charisma helps her to inspire others to never to give up,” said Suzi.
“Hannah is a great person to look up to on and off the court,” said sister Jilee Golus. “She is always looking for a way to help herself and everyone around her to be the best. She is always looking at the positive side of everything.”
“Hannah is a great leader on and off the court,” said sister Syann Golus. “She will take initiative to hype the girls up on the court and pick them up when they’re feeling down. Off the court she is always willing to help out.”
“Hannah is a leader by compassion in sports and basketball,” said father Wade Person. “She always includes everyone no matter the skill set. In her younger years she would always ask the girls that never got asked to play with her and with her abilities it really didn’t matter because she could carry the load. In return a lot of these girls follow her to this day just because she included them when nobody else would. This quality not only pertains to sports but in just everyday life. She always included the girls that were left out of hanging out or other activities. I have seen times where teams get divided but she has the knack of bringing camaraderie of the team back together. I think a lot of it has to do with the compassion she expresses to each individual which in hand earns their trust and will tend to follow her lead.”
“Going into my junior year of high school, I made the change from the reservation to the city,” said Hannah. “It was very complicated because it was right before the new school year had started. It was tough for me to start a new chapter in my life because of the number of people that surrounded me. When I walked into Bismarck High School there were almost three times the number of students. As I kept moving along and basketball came around it was easier for me to adjust and make friends, by being able to continue striving I was able to adjust to my new life.”
“My student athlete accomplishments are maintaining good grades while continuing to play college basketball,” said Hannah. “Advice I would give to other student athletes is to make every practice count and give it your all and to cherish the memories because it’s what you’ll remember the most.”
