Shinnecock Basketball Players Represent Nation At National Tournament

One of the enduring appeals of playing for a high school team is the unique opportunity it provides for students to represent and bring pride to their hometown. It’s a feeling and experience that cannot be recreated on a travel or showcase team.

For eight members of the Shinnecock Nation who were part of the Southampton varsity boys basketball squad this past school year, there is pride in being a Mariner. But the chance to compete together and represent where they are truly from, on a big stage, was not an experience available to them until recently.

On July 17-23, 13 teen boys from the Shinnecock Nation, along with head coach Nitauke Williams and assistant coach Andrew Cuffee, traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to compete in the Native American Basketball Invitational.

Established in 2003, the NABI is the largest and most prestigious all-Native American basketball tournament in North America, drawing more than 130 boys and girls basketball teams, representing tribes across the country. The competition on the court is the focal point of the week, but there is other programming meant to enrich the athletes during their time there, including a college and career fair and the NABI Educational Youth Summit.

Williams is a 2015 Southampton graduate who was a four-year varsity player for the Mariners under longtime head coach Herm Lamison. He first heard about the NABI in February, through Shinnecock tribal member Weyhan Smith, who lives in New Mexico.

Southampton’s boys basketball program has a long and strong winning tradition, and an equally long tradition of being bolstered by many talented players from the Shinnecock Nation. The 2021/22 team had particularly robust representation from the tribe, and those players led the team to Suffolk County Class B Championship.

Keeping that group together and providing them with more opportunities to play and compete was a big part of the motivation for attending the NABI, Williams said. But it was about much more than that.

“Bringing them out [to Arizona] and keeping them together as a team to represent Shinnecock is about teaching them to know who they are,” Williams said. “Going to Southampton and playing for the [high school] team, that’s often lost. It’s our job as Shinnecock tribal members to instill that self knowledge and empower them to understand who they are. They got to see other teams, and see others have that sense of pride, and it gave them a sense of belonging. Every time we went to a game, we brought the Shinnecock flag.”

Williams — who was part of a county championship team during his time as a Mariner — pointed out that talented athletes from the Nation have, over generations, often been the backbone of many standout Southampton teams, and that while Shinnecock student-athletes excel in a number of sports, basketball has always had particular importance within the tribe.

“Going back for years, I have great aunts and uncles and grandparents who always played and always had talent,” Williams said. “Basketball is a sport Shinnecock people always gravitated toward. All the best players on this year’s team were Shinnecock.”

Giving those players a chance to showcase those skills in a new way, that would allow them to connect more deeply with their culture, was a worthwhile endeavor, but required support. The tribe assisted the team financially, and the players engaged in their own fundraising efforts as well. They created a team name — the IFNO Snipers — and Williams explained that the acronym “IFNO” stands for “I Fear No One.” T-shirts bearing the team name and logo were created through Manowesas, the clothing line that Williams created and owns. Manowesas is a Shinnecock word that means “fearlessness,” he said.

Coaching the team and being an entrepreneur who uses fashion and clothing to display his pride in his culture and heritage are all ways that Williams is trying to influence those younger than him in a positive way.

“It all ties back to home, and trying to be a positive influence for the tribe,” he said.

He was also motivated to coach the players and take them to Arizona because of his familiarity with them and their unique talent as a group. He coached the same group of players in an SYS spring league when they were middle schoolers, and they won the league championship — an early sign that they were poised to be a special group.

They showed that they made good on that potential, going 5-3 in eight games at the NABI, and making it into the winners bracket before bowing out. Williams said that while some of the losses were frustrating, the experience was enriching for the team in many ways, both from a cultural standpoint and even in terms of broadening their horizons when it comes to basketball.

“Seeing other Native teams, they realized their style of play is different,” Williams said. “They play ‘rez ball,’ which is super fast paced, and their team chemistry is out of this world. Them seeing that opened their eyes a lot. They got to see these teams that have constant movement, and great team chemistry with passing and shooting and really moving as one. It wasn’t just a bunch of individually talented players.”

Nootimus Williams, who goes by “Noomie,” said that competing in the tournament was special for several reasons.

“This team brought our community together,” he said. “All members of our tribe helped pitch in on this trip because everyone wanted to see up prosper and to show that Shinnecock people are just as good as any other Native tribe.”

LeBron Napier said entering the tournament was appealing to him on many levels.

“I wanted to compete in this tournament to experience something different, and to have the chance to just be able to play against people from all across the country,” he said. “The best part about the trip was making memories with my family and friends. It felt amazing to be able to represent Shinnecock.

“Some teams had doubt about us being Native because we looked different,” he added. “But we looked past it and played as hard as we could. We made our mark in the tournament and I hope the younger generation continues to represent us positively.”

Coach Williams said he hopes an annual trip to the tournament becomes a tradition, and that it continues to provide the same positive experience for future Shinnecock basketball players.

“We want to utilize this to get them motivated to be more in tune with who they are,” he said. “It’s my job to instill that pride in the youth, so that outside power can’t intrude on how the kids think about themselves.

“I see myself in every single one of those kids,” Williams added. “This is a way for me to not only coach them and for them to become better athletes, but for them to become better young men as well.”

The Shinnecock IFNO Snipers team was coached by Nitauke Williams with assistant coach Andrew Cuffee, and included Derek Reed, Tyson Reddick, Naevon Jenkins, LeBron Napier, Ryan Smith, Tyrese Reddick, Nootimus Williams, Aydan Eleazer, Dyson Smith, Nikai Pierson, Davon Palmore, Wequai Smith and Nuhkon Smith.