-
Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts access private forums and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
Excellent NY Times piece on Chavez, Ellis and Martin
- Thread starter Silvertip
- Start date
Copper King
Well-known member
Silvertip said:
Krysko talked (on the local TV coach's show) about his wife reading this article to him the day after the Nevada game and how good it made him feel. This is the kind of thing that may well keep him here when some bigger programs start waiving a lot of money in front of him.
Zirg said:
Surprising Montana Is a Team of Underdogs
By PETE THAMEL
SALT LAKE CITY, March 17 — Montana's reserve forward, Mike Chavez, is the only American Indian playing in the N.C.A.A. tournament. The Grizzlies' backup point guard, Bryan Ellis, hails from a hardscrabble section of east Detroit filled with abandoned houses. Their reserve shooting guard, Matt Martin, comes from Spearfish, S.D., and chose Montana because it was the closest Division I school to recruit him. Missoula is 668 miles — a nine-hour drive — from Spearfish.
These three Grizzlies reserves played key roles in 12th-seeded Montana's upset of fifth-seeded Nevada on Thursday. It was Montana's first tournament victory in 31 years, and it provided a showcase for an unusual confluence of players.
"You talk about coming from different parts of the world," Montana Coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "It's not just our team, but it's this time of year, when you can bring it all together."
Chavez, Ellis and Martin — an American Indian from a reservation, an African-American from a big city and a white player from a town of about 9,000 — illustrate the Grizzlies' geographic and racial diversity. This band of overachievers will play fourth-seeded Boston College in the second round Saturday.
Few players have endured more to get on the court than Chavez, who lives on the Blackfeet reservation in Heart Butte, Mont. Chavez, the son of Mary Ann and Joseph Stillsmoking, is part Northern Cheyenne and part Crow.
Chavez recalled playing on cracked cement courts, dirt courts, or wherever he could find a rim. After arriving in Missoula in 2002 and starting six games as a freshman, Chavez missed the past two seasons because of problems with academics and substance abuse.
Now that he has worked through his problems and returned to the court, Chavez said, his biggest thrill is that he can serve as an inspiration to other American Indians. He said that when he logged on the Web site ndnsports.com and saw that he was the only American Indian in the tournament, he beamed with pride.
Ellis grew up in Detroit, and he said he never really knew his parents, who both died from complications from H.I.V. Ellis said that he did not remember ever meeting his father and that he saw his mother only sporadically before she died.
He grew up with his aunt and uncle, whom he calls his mother and father. He did not qualify for Division I basketball when he finished at Denby High School in Detroit. He attended both Butler Community College in Kansas and Salt Lake Community College before landing at Montana this season. Ellis said he had to take basic classes when he arrived at junior college, but his hard work yielded sweet dividends.
"A day like that makes it worth it," Ellis said.
Nancy and Jim Martin are teachers in Spearfish and have become intimately familiar with the nine-hour drive to watch their son Matt play for Montana. They fill up their Chrysler Pacifica in Spearfish, then stop for gas in Billings and again outside Bozeman (unless, of course, there are white-out conditions like the ones they encountered during a 12-hour trek they took in December to watch the Grizzlies upset Stanford).
The Grizzlies have caught on in Spearfish. Matt Martin said Montana gear is now sold in shops around town, and local pubs are packed with fans rooting for the Grizzlies.
Nancy Martin said that she saw quite a few students in her school sporting Grizzlies sweatshirts this year, which is partially a byproduct of her son's popularity.
It is the same in Heart Butte, where Chavez said that he heard that "things were crazy" after the upset of Nevada. Ellis said he got messages from his friends back in Detroit saying that he and the Grizzlies were the talk of the playgrounds.
"I think that what's great about the N.C.A.A. tournament is teams like us and Northwestern State get exposure that they wouldn't get in mid-major conferences," Matt Martin said.
And Montana's exposure comes in part from three players from three distinct backgrounds. "Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps," Krystkowiak said.
DuCharme
Well-known member
By PETE THAMEL
Published: March 18, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY, March 17 —
Montana's reserve forward, Mike Chavez, is the only American Indian playing in the N.C.A.A. tournament. The Grizzlies' backup point guard, Bryan Ellis, hails from a hardscrabble section of east Detroit filled with abandoned houses. Their reserve shooting guard, Matt Martin, comes from Spearfish, S.D., and chose Montana because it was the closest Division I school to recruit him. Missoula is 668 miles — a nine-hour drive — from Spearfish.
These three Grizzlies reserves played key roles in 12th-seeded Montana's upset of fifth-seeded Nevada on Thursday. It was Montana's first tournament victory in 31 years, and it provided a showcase for an unusual confluence of players.
"You talk about coming from different parts of the world," Montana Coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "It's not just our team, but it's this time of year, when you can bring it all together."
Chavez, Ellis and Martin — an American Indian from a reservation, an African-American from a big city and a white player from a town of about 9,000 — illustrate the Grizzlies' geographic and racial diversity. This band of overachievers will play fourth-seeded Boston College in the second round Saturday.
Few players have endured more to get on the court than Chavez, who lives on the Blackfeet reservation in Heart Butte, Mont. Chavez, the son of Mary Ann and Joseph Stillsmoking, is part Northern Cheyenne and part Crow.
Chavez recalled playing on cracked cement courts, dirt courts, or wherever he could find a rim. After arriving in Missoula in 2002 and starting six games as a freshman, Chavez missed the past two seasons because of problems with academics and substance abuse.
Now that he has worked through his problems and returned to the court, Chavez said, his biggest thrill is that he can serve as an inspiration to other American Indians. He said that when he logged on the Web site ndnsports.com and saw that he was the only American Indian in the tournament, he beamed with pride.
Ellis grew up in Detroit, and he said he never really knew his parents, who both died from complications from H.I.V. Ellis said that he did not remember ever meeting his father and that he saw his mother only sporadically before she died.
He grew up with his aunt and uncle, whom he calls his mother and father. He did not qualify for Division I basketball when he finished at Denby High School in Detroit. He attended both Butler Community College in Kansas and Salt Lake Community College before landing at Montana this season. Ellis said he had to take basic classes when he arrived at junior college, but his hard work yielded sweet dividends.
"A day like that makes it worth it," Ellis said.
Nancy and Jim Martin are teachers in Spearfish and have become intimately familiar with the nine-hour drive to watch their son Matt play for Montana. They fill up their Chrysler Pacifica in Spearfish, then stop for gas in Billings and again outside Bozeman (unless, of course, there are white-out conditions like the ones they encountered during a 12-hour trek they took in December to watch the Grizzlies upset Stanford).
The Grizzlies have caught on in Spearfish. Matt Martin said Montana gear is now sold in shops around town, and local pubs are packed with fans rooting for the Grizzlies.
Nancy Martin said that she saw quite a few students in her school sporting Grizzlies sweatshirts this year, which is partially a byproduct of her son's popularity.
It is the same in Heart Butte, where Chavez said that he heard that "things were crazy" after the upset of Nevada. Ellis said he got messages from his friends back in Detroit saying that he and the Grizzlies were the talk of the playgrounds.
"I think that what's great about the N.C.A.A. tournament is teams like us and Northwestern State get exposure that they wouldn't get in mid-major conferences," Matt Martin said.
And Montana's exposure comes in part from three players from three distinct backgrounds. "Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps," Krystkowiak said.
My bad, didnt see that EG had already posted it. :werd:
Published: March 18, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY, March 17 —
Montana's reserve forward, Mike Chavez, is the only American Indian playing in the N.C.A.A. tournament. The Grizzlies' backup point guard, Bryan Ellis, hails from a hardscrabble section of east Detroit filled with abandoned houses. Their reserve shooting guard, Matt Martin, comes from Spearfish, S.D., and chose Montana because it was the closest Division I school to recruit him. Missoula is 668 miles — a nine-hour drive — from Spearfish.
These three Grizzlies reserves played key roles in 12th-seeded Montana's upset of fifth-seeded Nevada on Thursday. It was Montana's first tournament victory in 31 years, and it provided a showcase for an unusual confluence of players.
"You talk about coming from different parts of the world," Montana Coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "It's not just our team, but it's this time of year, when you can bring it all together."
Chavez, Ellis and Martin — an American Indian from a reservation, an African-American from a big city and a white player from a town of about 9,000 — illustrate the Grizzlies' geographic and racial diversity. This band of overachievers will play fourth-seeded Boston College in the second round Saturday.
Few players have endured more to get on the court than Chavez, who lives on the Blackfeet reservation in Heart Butte, Mont. Chavez, the son of Mary Ann and Joseph Stillsmoking, is part Northern Cheyenne and part Crow.
Chavez recalled playing on cracked cement courts, dirt courts, or wherever he could find a rim. After arriving in Missoula in 2002 and starting six games as a freshman, Chavez missed the past two seasons because of problems with academics and substance abuse.
Now that he has worked through his problems and returned to the court, Chavez said, his biggest thrill is that he can serve as an inspiration to other American Indians. He said that when he logged on the Web site ndnsports.com and saw that he was the only American Indian in the tournament, he beamed with pride.
Ellis grew up in Detroit, and he said he never really knew his parents, who both died from complications from H.I.V. Ellis said that he did not remember ever meeting his father and that he saw his mother only sporadically before she died.
He grew up with his aunt and uncle, whom he calls his mother and father. He did not qualify for Division I basketball when he finished at Denby High School in Detroit. He attended both Butler Community College in Kansas and Salt Lake Community College before landing at Montana this season. Ellis said he had to take basic classes when he arrived at junior college, but his hard work yielded sweet dividends.
"A day like that makes it worth it," Ellis said.
Nancy and Jim Martin are teachers in Spearfish and have become intimately familiar with the nine-hour drive to watch their son Matt play for Montana. They fill up their Chrysler Pacifica in Spearfish, then stop for gas in Billings and again outside Bozeman (unless, of course, there are white-out conditions like the ones they encountered during a 12-hour trek they took in December to watch the Grizzlies upset Stanford).
The Grizzlies have caught on in Spearfish. Matt Martin said Montana gear is now sold in shops around town, and local pubs are packed with fans rooting for the Grizzlies.
Nancy Martin said that she saw quite a few students in her school sporting Grizzlies sweatshirts this year, which is partially a byproduct of her son's popularity.
It is the same in Heart Butte, where Chavez said that he heard that "things were crazy" after the upset of Nevada. Ellis said he got messages from his friends back in Detroit saying that he and the Grizzlies were the talk of the playgrounds.
"I think that what's great about the N.C.A.A. tournament is teams like us and Northwestern State get exposure that they wouldn't get in mid-major conferences," Matt Martin said.
And Montana's exposure comes in part from three players from three distinct backgrounds. "Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps," Krystkowiak said.
My bad, didnt see that EG had already posted it. :werd:
