This story seems in SLAM 248. Get your copy right here.
It’s loopy to assume there was nearly a second when five-star recruit Aaliyah Chavez didn’t play basketball. Rising up in Texas, Chavez admits that when she was youthful, she’d principally sit at residence and watch tv on the sofa, or she would see different youngsters enjoying basketball within the park. That’s when she obtained an thought. “I used to be like, Oh, that appears enjoyable to play.”
The best way her dad and coach, Sonny, remembers it, the Monterey Excessive College star wasn’t precisely the athletic sort when she was little. “She couldn’t trip a motorbike, couldn’t trip a skateboard, , all of the issues that I grew up [doing] as a child,” he says over the cellphone. Regardless of initially telling her no, younger Aaliyah didn’t hand over. “She simply was fairly adamant about enjoying,” he provides.
Sonny, who performed soccer, determined he’d see simply how badly Aaliyah, who was in third grade on the time, actually wished it. So, he began placing her by exercises that had nothing to do with basketball however examined her psychological toughness. They’d work on plyometrics with bins he had constructed. He’d have her leap and attempt to contact the door body or work on ballhandling within the driveway with tennis balls. “[I was] simply making an attempt to push her to stop and to appreciate that sports activities was not for her. [But] she did every part I requested, so I ended up signing her up.”
Just a few days earlier than tryouts, Sonny taught her methods to block a shot, however that was actually the extent of her basketball coaching earlier than she performed her first recreation. Again then, Aaliyah couldn’t rating a layup, however her grit was on full show. She’d go on the market and snatch the ball from the opposite little ladies, and block photographs, too, similar to her dad had taught her. In fourth grade, she tried out for an area AAU squad with older gamers however was informed throughout observe that she wasn’t ok. That was a defining second for her. “I believe that was actually [when I was] like, Oh, I’m gonna show you incorrect.”
That’s not the one hate Aaliyah has needed to cope with all through her journey. From doubters to jealous dad and mom complaining about her minutes to individuals telling her father that “she’s not gonna
be that good as a result of she’s Hispanic,” and that he was pushing her too exhausting. It’s protected to say that Chavez has proved everybody incorrect. At the moment, she’s the No. 1 recruit within the Class of 2025 and has narrowed down her faculty listing to 10 high Division I packages: Texas Tech, Arizona, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, USC, Tennessee, Texas and UCLA.
And each she and her household have achieved all of it on their very own phrases: relatively than go to an elite prep faculty midway throughout the nation, she’s chosen to remain at residence and play for Monterey.
After we caught up with Chavez for her SLAM HS Basketball Diary (learn right here), she had simply scored her 3,000th level and claimed she would’ve dropped 50 had her coach not sat her out.
That’s the kind of confidence Chavez carries herself with each time she steps on the ground: “I’d describe my recreation as an all-around participant,” she tells us. “I can shoot, I can get to the bucket, I can defend, I’m a playmaker on the identical time. Should you’re open, I’m gonna discover you, and a number of the passes I’ve been making are loopy. I believe I simply make loopy passes as a result of I’m not afraid to attempt them.”
Portraits by Zach Tijerina.
