Best Native American BB player ever in MT?

[SonomaCat]

Old Bull was hands down the best with Chavez second. My memory of Elvis is him outplaying everyone of the MSU team in pickup games in the off season. Unstoppable andvery fun to play with.

I never got to see Pretty Weasel or the Weeks bros.

One that hasn't been mentioned is Kenny Big Back. Played for Rocky. I think he was the one that Sports Illustrated did a story on him around 90 or 91

I think the SI piece you are talking about was on Takes Enemy (who went to Rocky after an absence from basketball and lit it up). It was written by Gary Smith, and was one of the most amazing pieces I ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Game-Colle ... 0802138497

[BR GRIZ]

Les Ryan from Helgate was a very good BB player, and an all around excellent athlete. If I remember correctly he went to Washington State on a football scholarship.

[STREETCAT]

Travis Keele from St. Ignatis was also a damn good basketball player

[Bleedinbluengold]

Best one I ever saw was Dick Doore from Browning. Nobody probably even knows this name because this was before native americans even thought about college. First high school player I ever witnessed that dunked during a game.

[crazycat]

Way back when there was a kid named Yellow Eyes from Medicine Lake- great player.

You're probably thinking of George Yellow Eyes, but he played for Busby back in the early 70s.

And by the way the best Native American basketball player without question was Larry Pretty Weasel of Hardin. He single-handedly beat the West in the East-West Shrine game in the Butte Civic Center and the West's second biggest goal next to winning, was to shut down Pretty Weasel.

Well, the West did what they could, but Pretty Weasel threw a half-dollar (that's 50 points) and the rest ... as they say ... is ancient history. Loooong before the 3-pointer came into play.

[GOKATS]

Way back when there was a kid named Yellow Eyes from Medicine Lake- great player.

You're probably thinking of George Yellow Eyes, but he played for Busby back in the early 70s.

And by the way the best Native American basketball player without question was Larry Pretty Weasel of Hardin. He single-handedly beat the West in the East-West Shrine game in the Butte Civic Center and the West's second biggest goal next to winning, was to shut down Pretty Weasel.

Well, the West did what they could, but Pretty Weasel threw a half-dollar (that's 50 points) and the rest ... as they say ... is ancient history. Loooong before the 3-pointer came into play.

George is the one I was thinking of- I was thinking Medicine Lake, but it was about a billion beers ago.

[1BadBobcat]

I'm gonna have to vote for Larry Pretty Weasel. Before my time, but my mom went to school with him in Hardin, and my dad played against him (Dad was a star at Broadus - Powder River, Let 'Er Buck!). Dad says Pretty Weasel was a phenom - scored at will, just a natural.

Pretty Weasel was an inagural inductee into the Montana Sports Hall of Fame. In 1957, Pretty Weasel was the MVP in the state tournament, scoring 128 points in 4 games (for those who are counting, that's a 32 point/game average - before the three-ball).

After that, I am gonna vote for Jonathan Takes Enemy and then as third I vote for Mike Hill who played at Billings Senior in the early 1980s.

[SonomaCat]

Because he scored a lot of points on me personally and was one of the best three point shooters I'd ever seen off the dribble, I will throw a vote out for Scott Henderson from Box Elder.

[Topher]

Old Bull was hands down the best with Chavez second. My memory of Elvis is him outplaying everyone of the MSU team in pickup games in the off season. Unstoppable andvery fun to play with.

I never got to see Pretty Weasel or the Weeks bros.

One that hasn't been mentioned is Kenny Big Back. Played for Rocky. I think he was the one that Sports Illustrated did a story on him around 90 or 91

Shout out to Colstrip great Kenny Big Back, I like it! I watched him, and I vaguely remember Old Bull...I was at the Class B chipper in the Metra when I was like six years old. I remember the comotion around him more than his actual play. That is just too much attention for a High School kid. Nobody could stay grounded with that much fanfare/praise.

[CatFamily]

Don't forget Donny Wetzel of Cut Bank a 1967 graduate. One of the very few Montana high schoolers named Kodak High School All American and played 4 years for the Griz making All Big Sky I think each of his last two years. Absolutely astounding playmaker, scorer and tough defensively. Shut down Willie Weeks of the Cats at Bozeman when Willie was scoring 18 a game and held him to less than 10 in Griz upset of Cats while he scored 14. Led Cut Bank to state championship.

[rockinnative34]

The best Native American Basketball player in the Sate of MT....by Native American, I mean, Being American Indian. I know that doesn't sound fair to the White Folks out there but, I don't remember the White man being here first.....lol....not being racist or anything like that, but there are a lot of players that are not mentioned like Mark luke Spotted Bear, Barnery Smart Enemy, Juno and Rodney Plenty Hawk, Jo Jo Pretty Paint, Jarvis YellowRobe, Robert Bement, Milton EagleFeathers, Eugene Limpy, Tom Yarlott, Starr Not Afraid, Gary Cross Guns, George Yellow Eyes, Kenny Big Back, Dan Wetzelunique the list goes on and on. I can honestly say, that each of these individuals that are not mentioned could have and easily played with the best of them. I guess you could say that I don't take anything away from the likes of Takes Enemy, Old Bull, Chavez, Camel, Conway etc. etc. etc. I have seen and played against these individuals in tournaments and in high school. I can honestly say that they all had something unique to bring to the game. My choice, hands down the best "Native" American B-Ball player in the State of MT is Jonathan Takes Enemy. Why? do you ask good question! I can say that all of these players have faced prejudice and adversities in games that they have played in, but i have to go with Takes Enemy. Jonathan, cooming off a fourth place finish at state and still receiving MVP honors and the Hertz award which was presented by O.J. Simpson(now in prison.) in New York City. Setting a scoring record of 128 points in a state competition (Remember, that's without the 3-point line). Now that, Is an accomplishment all in its self. As for the rest of them, they were good, but not as good. Old Bull could've Played D-1 B-ball in any confrence. It's all good that he brought LG 3 State titles, but when you have people on your team that are just as good if not better than he was you can do such things as bring home 3 in a row. In other words, I think LG could've won those without him. Chavez, the same story applies to him as well. He was good. Pretty Weasel was a great ball player as well, giving Takes Enemy (Pretty Weasel's nephew) someone to look up too. As for J.R. Camel, I can't say that he was as good as any of these other players, because he wouldn't share the same spotlight as these here players if he had not went to Hellgate H.S (which was already in the hunt for a state title) and with the help of wheeler and other teammates won the AA state title. So I don't think that i could put him there with the rest of them. Simply because the division and area was not at all tough like the ones in south eastern MT. Hitchhikers shouldn't receive the same honors as those who have worked for it. But, like I said everyone of these guys brought something unique to the game. I think both Kral and Shan Ferch and even their dad Tom Ferch would agree that Takes Enemy is and always will be the best there is. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[mslacat]

Boy way to bring an old thread back to life. I have not seen most of the players you mention , but of the player I saw I would have to go with Takes Enemy, and Elvis Old Bull. Chavez was also a very good player and was some what unique because of his size and positions. I also think that his somewhat disappointing play at Montana has somewhat hurt how he is looked back on as a high school player. I do not mean to disparage Chavez at all, he had a fine career at UM but if you look at only his high school career he was as dominating a big man as we have seen in some time in Montana. What made him special was that he had that Magic Johnson type of skill set. He was really special in high school. His college career got derailed some and forced him to really bunker down and reinvent himself. he was a very solid role player for the Griz but not the star he was in high school.

[wbtfg]

Boy way to bring an old thread back to life. I have not seen most of the players you mention , but of the player I saw I would have to go with Takes Enemy, and Elvis Old Bull. Chavez was also a very good player and was some what unique because of his size and positions. I also think that his somewhat disappointing play at Montana has somewhat hurt how he is looked back on as a high school player. I do not mean to disparage Chavez at all, he had a fine career at UM but if you look at only his high school career he was as dominating a big man as we have seen in some time in Montana. What made him special was that he had that Magic Johnson type of skill set. He was really special in high school. His college career got derailed some and forced him to really bunker down and reinvent himself. he was a very solid role player for the Griz but not the star he was in high school.

Takes Enemy and Old Bull are before my time, so I'm wondering how their college careers compared to that of Chavez.

[mslacat]

Boy way to bring an old thread back to life. I have not seen most of the players you mention , but of the player I saw I would have to go with Takes Enemy, and Elvis Old Bull. Chavez was also a very good player and was some what unique because of his size and positions. I also think that his somewhat disappointing play at Montana has somewhat hurt how he is looked back on as a high school player. I do not mean to disparage Chavez at all, he had a fine career at UM but if you look at only his high school career he was as dominating a big man as we have seen in some time in Montana. What made him special was that he had that Magic Johnson type of skill set. He was really special in high school. His college career got derailed some and forced him to really bunker down and reinvent himself. he was a very solid role player for the Griz but not the star he was in high school.

Takes Enemy and Old Bull are before my time, so I'm wondering how their college careers compared to that of Chavez.

Chavez had a better college career.

Takes Enemy did not sign with a schools until a few years after high school. He played for Eastern Montana (MSU- Billings now) and struggled at first to adjust to non-basketball issue. later he did pretty well and Sports Illustrated did an article on him.

I beleive Old Bull never played basketball in College. He did not graduate from high school with his class. There was a rumor that he attended Bozeman high for an additional year after he his senior year in high school with the hopes of getting a diploma and playing for the Bobcats but I have never been able to confirm the story.

The native American basketball player have had a long history of struggling with the cultural change on college campuses.

[BroncoCat]

Boy way to bring an old thread back to life. I have not seen most of the players you mention , but of the player I saw I would have to go with Takes Enemy, and Elvis Old Bull. Chavez was also a very good player and was some what unique because of his size and positions. I also think that his somewhat disappointing play at Montana has somewhat hurt how he is looked back on as a high school player. I do not mean to disparage Chavez at all, he had a fine career at UM but if you look at only his high school career he was as dominating a big man as we have seen in some time in Montana. What made him special was that he had that Magic Johnson type of skill set. He was really special in high school. His college career got derailed some and forced him to really bunker down and reinvent himself. he was a very solid role player for the Griz but not the star he was in high school.

Takes Enemy and Old Bull are before my time, so I'm wondering how their college careers compared to that of Chavez.

Chavez had a better college career.

Takes Enemy did not sign with a schools until a few years after high school. He played for Eastern Montana (MSU- Billings now) and struggled at first to adjust to non-basketball issue. later he did pretty well and Sports Illustrated did an article on him.

I beleive Old Bull never played basketball in College. He did not graduate from high school with his class. There was a rumor that he attended Bozeman high for an additional year after he his senior year in high school with the hopes of getting a diploma and playing for the Bobcats but I have never been able to confirm the story.

The native American basketball player have had a long history of struggling with the cultural change on college campuses.

Takes Enemy signed with either BYU or Utah out of High school and attended school there and left in the middle of his first year. I think he was 26 years
old when he decided to go back to school and played for Rocky for 2 years and then MSU B . From what I remember he had a pretty solid playing career in basketball and did pretty well in college.

[mslacat]

read this

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[whitetrashgriz]

read this

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

that was a great read. anyone know what takes enemy and old bull are up to these days? it'd be great if this story had a happy ending for both of them.

[LTown Cat]

Watch these, they are pretty good:

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[HUNTERCAT]

I would have to say J. Take Enemy was the smoothest player that I have ever competed against. Back then the Eastern A was extremly competetive with Livingston (Ferch Brothers), Glendive, Billings Central and the Mighty Locomotives and Takes Enemy made us look like we were playing with concrete high tops!

[AlphaGriz1]

Best was Elvis Old Bull

My favorite was Gary Cross Guns from Browning, he had one of the best 9 year high school careers in the history of Montana.











FYI Browning is still a better place to live than Billings.