by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
James Pendleton is a junior point guard on the basketball team at the University of Minnesota-Morris.
“I went to high school at Redwood Valley but I am from the Lower Sioux Reservation,” said James. “My parents are Dean and Laura Pendleton and my father is also from Lower Sioux. I also have a sister named Jenna who plays volleyball at Bethany Lutheran College.”
“I’m able to control the ball, be a leader on the court, finishing at the rim and finding my open teammates are strengths that I feel I bring to my team,” said James.
James said: “Athletics will help me in the future because it has taught me how to work as a team, handle difficult situations and also understanding where people fit in a certain system. Athletics has been a huge part of my life and it will continue to help me through different situations that come about.”
“My dad has been the biggest influencer because he always pushed me to do my best in whatever I am doing in my life,” said James. “He has taught me to respect everyone and everything around me.”
“James has always had a hard work ethic on and off the court,” said his parents Dean and Laura. “He is a humble and effective leader and teammate. We have enjoyed watching him play and admire his dedication to his sports, academics and family.”
“Another positive influencer in my life is my high school baseball and football coach Aaron Ferrier,” said James. “I enjoyed playing for him and appreciated all the time and effort he put into coaching not just me, but the teams.”
“James is a quiet leader a leader by example,” said Coach Ferrier. “He was and is an extremely gifted athlete and when you combine that with great effort every day and being extremely coachable, that is a coaches dream. He never needed to say much and his teammates naturally followed his lead. James is a great person, teammate, athlete and leader. It makes it easy for a coach when you simply point at one of your best players and say, just do it like that on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”
James Pendleton had a successful high school time with basketball. He encouraged younger players to be better without being demanding. “I got the opportunity to coach James for 4 years,” said Aaron Lindahl, head boys’ basketball coach at Redwood Valley High School. “My first coaching job was James 9th grade year. The next year I took over the head boys job at Redwood Valley.”
“James did a great job leading the summer going into the year, putting countless hours in the gym and weight room, and always making sure he dragged a few guys in there with him. Throughout the year, guys turned to James whenever they needed anything, whether it was in practice or in games. James sealed our sub-section and section final games with free throws, and his poise and leadership shown as he wanted the ball in his hands and he showed our older and younger guys what it looked like to step up in big situations, and ultimately, got us to state that year,” added Coach Lindahl.
“The next two years James took on a different role,” said Coach Lindahl. “The area teams knew how good he was and he was the big focus of our teams, after being our best scorer returning. James understood this going into the year and really took on a mentorship role to younger kids, both of whom ended up being 1,000 point scorers and college athletes. James got them in the gym and helped them fine-tune their game. He took the role on as a leader and a distributor. He never cared if he was the leading scorer, or didn’t score at all. He cared about getting better, having fun with his teammates, and winning. He was always focused on the goal every day at practice, and strived to perfect his game. He never wastes a rep and other guys see that and understand that if you want to be great, you need to do those things.”
Photographs provided by Brooke Kern Photography.
