Going the distance

Savanah Burke is determined to go the distance to play basketball at the collegiate level — and not just figuratively.

The 5-foot-10 Lewiston High School junior and Nezperce Tribe member has a jam-packed schedule of summer hoops ahead of her as she competes for the AAU 17-and-under Unity Basketball girls’ travel team.

The program is based in the town of Tulalip in northwestern Washington — more than 350 miles from Burke’s home — and it sends players across the country to compete in high-level tournaments sponsored by Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour that offer players a chance to be seen by college coaches and scouts at all levels.

Unity consists entirely of Native American youth representing 14 states and more than 50 tribes.

Burke, 15, will compete with Unity in tournaments in Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Atlanta, New Century (in Kansas), and Centralia, Wash., during the summer. She played for the program in 2019 and 2020 under coach DeShawn Joseph, who started Unity in 2010 with his wife, Sharmane Joseph.

The program runs the style of basketball known as rezball, which many reservation-based teams have adopted and consists of high-volume shooting, fast-break opportunities and on-the-go decision-making.

“It has been a life-changing thing for me,” Burke said. “The connections and bonds I’ve made with people and my teammates.… Just from the first tourney, it all clicked. Playing basketball with people that play (the same style of) rezball as me, we all just came together.”

With her height, shooting and ballhandling capabilities, Burke projects as a next-level player with the tools to further develop her game with Unity, according to Joseph.

“Savanah played in a tournament for us in Chehalis, Wash., a few years back, and we ended up winning that tourney,” he said. “When she went back home, her parents reached out about her joining up. Ever since then, she’s been a great energy person. Her attitude toward basketball and life is every bit that exemplifies what you want on a team, and she wants to go above and beyond to play at an elite level. It’s a win-win.”

Burke had been drawn to the AAU circuit from an early age, when her father, Shawn, coached her from fourth through eighth grade on his local team called the LC Xtreme. Shawn adopted Savanah when she was 5 years old with her biological mother, Stephanie Burke.

From there, Savanah started playing more AAU basketball, hooking up with coach Ada Marks.

Marks coached Savanah in 2019 on the Rip City Nation team based in Lapwai. At the time, Marks also was on the Unity coaching staff, alongside Joseph, while her children were participating in the program.

Marks ended up stepping down from the position after she took the top girls’ job at Lapwai High School. But in the process, Marks helped introduce Savanah to Unity Basketball and Joseph.

“Savanah is a very easy-going girl,” Marks said. “She’s positive on the court and is really a talker. She communicates very well on the court. I loved having her. Having a good relationship with her and her family helped (too).”

Joseph founded the program with his wife in 2010 to help Native American student-athletes get more opportunities to play at the collegiate level with schools that value them. With tournaments that can sometimes attract 50 to 70 college coaches at a time, it significantly boosts exposure level, especially for students who come from smaller cities.

The program also offers its players once-in-a-lifetime chances. The team has attended a Phoenix Mercury WNBA home game, as well as a meet-and-greet workout session with the Haskell Indian Nations University women’s team.

In 2012, Joseph stepped away from the game to focus on his family. Since rejoining the program in 2017, he’s coached about 250 Native American athletes from 22 states. He’s coached in 25 national events and is looking to go bigger with it.

Since Joseph’s program is based in Tulalip, not all of his 24 currently committed players can gather before tournaments to get ample practice time in. Players find their way to the events and try quickly to establish cohesion. Programs with larger, more centrally located facilities come into events with up to 40 hours of prep time.

“That’s part of our problem as a national program,” Joseph said. “We lack that aspect, being able to have a facility to practice in and put in six to eight hours of work a day in.”

Joseph plans to relocate his family to Yakima in 2022 to open a facility for his program where his players can stay and practice.

“That’s the vision there,” he said. “If I can up our numbers of practices and camps that we can offer, we will compete at an even higher level. The teams we play are well-rounded and have things down. I haven’t been able to structure that myself. We are on my rise and hungry to get to the next level, and the kids are ready to represent their families.

“The girls will have their own dorm rooms, and they can go to practice together. We’re invested in this and we’re gonna go for it.”

Wiederspohn may be contacted at ewiederspohn@lmtribune.com, (208) 848-2268 or on Twitter @EvannnW.