Mike Chavez hops up and tears away his warmups. Before he can reach the scorer's table, the crowd is on its feet, cheering in anticipation of his first rotation.
“Yeah, I can hear it,” Chavez says with an embarrassed smile. “It kind of gets me going, gets me pumped up.”
“The place goes nuts and my mom's leading the pack,” Griz coach Wayne Tinkle said. “The only thing she talks to me about as far as basketball is concerned is that I need to play Mike more.”
Tinkle's mom isn't the only one.
“Every once in a while it'll get quiet and we'll be in a funk offensively and somebody will yell out, ‘Put Chavez in!' ” Tinkle said with a laugh.
Some of the reasons the crowd has taken a shine to Chavez are obvious.
The guy can see things that, quite frankly, no other Grizzly sees - then he's capable of delivering the ball to that spot. He gets his hands on any ball in his neighborhood, keeping rebounds alive until he or a teammate can corral it, or tipping a pass that results in a turnover.
And that's where it can really get fun, watching the slender 6-foot-7 senior lead the fast break with skills usually reserved for men much smaller in stature.
Or how about the spin move he makes when he's posted up on the block against guys who are no match for his foot speed? The reverse layup that follows never fails to bring the house down.
But there are less obvious reasons Chavez feels the love from the Montana crowd. The fans who know where he came from, what he's gone through and how he's responded can't help but root for the young man.
Chavez might not use the term himself, but he's a trailblazer. He's a Native American, who led two different high schools on the Blackfeet Reservation - Heart Butte and Browning - to state basketball championships, and he's playing Division I college basketball.
That in itself is news. The history of Indian basketball in Montana is replete with high school legends who never found success - or even the opportunity for it - at the Division I level. Chavez can tick off the names of players like Elvis Old Bull, or Jonathan Takes Enemy; he knew the odds he was up against when he gave then-Griz coach Don Holst his commitment to attend Montana.
But simply knowing the odds didn't preclude Chavez from falling into some of the traps that derailed the careers of other Indian athletes.
Chavez started six games as a true freshman, but his season was cut short when he was suspended following an arrest for drunken driving. The following school year, he dropped out of UM and it looked like Chavez was headed down the wrong path.
But Chavez returned to school in the fall of 2004 and first-year coach Larry Krystkowiak allowed him to practice with the team in the hopes of having his eligibility restored for the 2005-06 season.
“My mother (Mary Ann Stillsmoking) helped me out a lot and I always kept in touch with (Tinkle) and he helped me out,” Chavez said. “Coach Krystkowiak was really good at helping me out. He didn't give me anything, he just told me actions speak louder than words. I could have talked until I was blue in the face with him, but he was the kind of guy where you had to go out on the court and show him. Either you do it or you don't.
“I guess I still wanted to play college basketball, so that's why I kept busting my behind.”
The Chavez who retuned to UM in 2004 was far more well adjusted.
“I wasn't academically or socially prepared for the load,” Chavez said of when he first arrived on the Missoula campus. “Being a star basketball player on the rez, sometimes you're not asked to work your behind off every day.”
Chavez has worked hard on the academic side of the equation; Tinkle gave him some advice on the social aspect.
“I sat down with him and said, ‘Mike, you've got to find a way to break down these walls that you've put up around yourself to invite your teammates into your life,' ” Tinkle said. “That's what he really struggled with.
“He still sticks to himself a lot, but there's nothing like when Mike engages his teammates, whether it's a team meal on the road or a bus ride, he'll just light up a room.”
Krystkowiak's first year as head coach ended with the Griz facing Washington in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Boise. Chavez watched the game on TV.
“I told myself then that if they go next year, I'm going,” Chavez said.
“I think that was the fork in the road where you can hang it up and do whatever, or you can push a little bit more, a little bit more and it's going to come. I was mentally tough enough to keep working in school and working on the basketball court.”
Those are some of the less visible attributes that endear Chavez to Griz fans.
“He's a competitor, he loves the game of basketball,” Tinkle said. “He's got more passion for it than most guys we see. I think he's had enough of an influence from his mom, his family and from us that he wasn't going to be allowed to give in.”
The rewards have been coming ever since.
Chavez played in 28 games last season, averaging 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds a game. He scored seven points in the Grizzlies' win over Northern Arizona in the Big Sky tournament championship, realizing his dream of making the NCAA tournament.
Of the nearly 1,000 players spread out over the field of 65 teams, Chavez was the only Native American.
“You grow up on a reservation and you're surrounded by Natives all the time,” Chavez said. “When you get out into, say, the NCAA tournament and you realize you're the only Native playing there, it really shows you how unique your culture is and how blessed you are.
“I'm thankful every day that I'm Native American.”
Chavez scored two points in the Grizzlies' win over Nevada in the first round and added three points and four rebounds in their second-round loss to Boston College.
How he played in the NCAA tournament wasn't the point; just getting there was a victory.
“It makes it so much more rewarding when you work for something rather than if someone just gives it to you,” Chavez said.
Chavez is playing a larger role this season. He started in place of the ailing Andrew Strait on Wednesday night against Sacramento State, but more often than not, he's the first or second guy off the bench.
“He's just been a joy this year,” Tinkle said. “He doesn't ever show it, but he's got to be wanting to play more minutes. He's really bought into his role as our sparkplug off the bench.”
Chavez knows the score. Strait and Jordan Hasquet start in front of him and it's hard to argue, given their success.
“I think anybody wants to play a lot,” Chavez said. “Great teams always have role players who know their role and do the best they can with it.”
Chavez will play in his final Cat-Griz game Saturday night in Bozeman. After that, there are just five games left in the regular season, including senior night on Feb. 24.
“There's times I questioned if I was going to make it,” Chavez said. “It flew by so fast. There were times I didn't know whether I'd be graduating or seeing my senior night here, but I kind of held tough and kept that in sight.”
Senior night will come soon enough. His degree - he has a double major in anthropology and Native American studies - will come either this spring or summer.
The flashes of brilliance Chavez displays on the court make many Griz fans wonder what might have been had he been able to play for four straight years.
“But what you can't say is what a waste,” Tinkle said. “In a perfect world, sure, he played a lot as a freshman and could have had four great years. I don't know that the journey would have been worth as much as it is now, having gone through those struggles. I know he's a much more mature young man than if things were smooth sailing and I hope and pray that those experiences will help him to be more prepared for the rest of his life.”
Chavez doesn't waste a lot of time dwelling on the past.
“I do look back and know that you cut yourself short a little bit by the mistakes you made,” Chavez said. “I don't ponder on it. I just feel blessed with where I'm at now.”
And if his story can be an inspiration to other talented Indian athletes, so much the better.
“I don't really come at it as trying to be a role model,” Chavez said. “I'm a student athlete trying to get my degree and play basketball. I don't mind the fact that young guys see me playing Division I basketball. I just want to let them know that it's very possible for them to be in the same shoes I am.”
And Tinkle said he'd be happy to provide the opportunity.
“There are more and more males and females that are having success coming from the reservation and I think that's great,” Tinkle said. “Obviously the leaders of that community are doing a great job. Hopefully we can turn things around and it won't be a surprise when those athletes come to the collegiate level.
“It would be a great message when you hear of failure and it's as infrequent as success is now.”
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.
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