Kids spend a Sunday afternoon learning from Mr. Basketball

By Brenda Higgins

Dontaie Allen is home for an extended visit and is giving back some of what Pendleton County has given to him. Allen states that his favorite part of basketball is “giving it back to the kids.”

Mr. Basketball 2019, Dontaie Allen, was 18 years old when he won that honor and has never taken it or any of his success in the sport of basketball for granted. Allen held a three hour mini-session with eight youth on Sunday afternoon and spent that time teaching and assisting with dribbling, the James Harden step back move, the hard dribble step back, as well as a few others. The kids got both team time and one on one time in an attempt to hone their skills and have bragging rights that they learned their moves from “The Dontaie” himself. Not only did Dontaie take time to work with the kids, but he also gave them some talk time. He explained how he woke up everyday at 6 a.m. in order to go to the high school early to shoot baskets followed by breakfast at school to begin his school day. He played as many games as he could and took whatever measures necessary to achieve the goal of becoming Mr. Basketball. Allen stated “no one from Pendleton County or even a small school had ever won the title and he had set it in his sights. Allen also told the kids that if you believe in God, “you can achieve it, no matter what it is.”

Allen shared with the boys and girls that he wasn’t as good at using his left hand as he was his right, which is his dominant hand. So when he was in the ninth grade, he began using his left hand for everything, brushing his teeth, eating, playing basketball and even writing his name; eventually he was able to do it all left handed or right.

The kids present, most around middle school age, had their own reasons to be there or their own favorite parts o the game.

McKynlee Deming is nine years old and is going into the 4th grade at Southern. Her favorite of everything is dribbling.

Spencer McQueary, 11 years old and going into sixth grade in Campbell County, stated his dad saw this opportunity on Facebook from a shared post by Cheri Griffin and asked him if he would like to attend. He loves learning new things and states his favorite thing about Dontaie is “the way he dribbles.” Spencer has played at The Creek, Recreation and in his backyard. He plans on trying out for the middle school team when it’s time for the new season to begin.

Then there was Levi Traylor,13 years old and going into 8th grade at Phillip Sharp Middle School. Levi’s grandmother saw the Facebook post and got him signed up to participate. Levi states he likes basketball and his favorite part of the game is the teamwork. He stated Dontaie showed them a Euro step, and he enjoyed learning that one the most. He has played shooting guard and point guard every year but one since first grade. He said he would have played them all but Covid stopped him.

Twelve-year-old Noah Gelter is entering the 7th grade at Phillip Sharp next school year. He, too, loves the teamwork of the sport and most enjoyed the “between the legs, crossover for lay ups” move they were taught. About the opportunity, he stated it was a “once in a lifetime thing.”

The day was wrapped up with a game of King of the Court. It’s played one on one and if your opponent gets a turnover on you, you leave the court, but if you score, you stay on the court. Last person left on the court is the winner, but on this day, ALL were winners.

This reporter was blessed by getting to spend a bit of quality down time with Dontaie and get a little inside scoop and permission to share it with all of you. His main goal has been and still is to play professional basketball but more importantly he wants to “be a vessel for God and in whatever he’s doing, spread God’s name.” “If you live through Him, you can do special things for Him.”