By Ryan Deal

605 Sports

Libis, a Dell Rapids St. Mary High School graduate, was the lone South Dakotan among the four instructors. Ian Motschenbacher and Michael Nhial, who both hail from Fargo, North Dakota, along with Netherlands native Tobi Obiora were the other camp instructors. 

The two-hour trip from Aberdeen to McLaughlin, which sits on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, exposed the college basketball players to a different part of South Dakota.

“It was a little eye opening, especially for my teammates,” said Libis, who is the state’s third all-time leading boys basketball scorer with 2,731 points. “They told me that was the first time they had been to an Indian reservation. So to see that kind of stuff was definitely educational, and definitely what I was trying to get out of it, especially for my teammates.”

The camp was free, and in this day of college athletes profiting on name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, Libis said that wasn't the camp’s intention.

“We just wanted to donate our time, and give back to the people at McLaughlin, and give our time and our resources and our knowledge to them,” Libis said. “So it was not a monetary gain situation for us at all.”

Instead, Libis gained an appreciation for McLaughlin and the surrounding communities’ love for basketball. The camp was broken into two sessions — K-through-6th grade and 7th-through-12th grade — and waves of players packed McLaughlin’s gymnasium. 

The K-6th grade camp, which emphasized ball handling, passing, shooting and defense, attracted 45 kids. The 7th-through-12th grade camp focused on advanced ball handling and shooting drills, while drawing in 30 more kids. 

The camp originally called for a Q&A discussion session, but with 75 eager hoopers crammed into a three-hour window, time wouldn’t allow for it. 

“We ended up having so many kids that it was just so hard to do it,” Libis said. “But we were able to answer any questions that the kids had. They were awesome. It was pretty exciting, especially to have so many different bodies in there. It was pretty neat.”

Libis was equally impressed by the parents in attendance, noting about 20 hoop-crazed adults were watching from the sidelines.  

“They had chairs lined up on the side, and they watched the whole workout,” Libis said. “So that was not something that I would have at other schools, when I was working with Warwick or doing a camp like this before. So I thought that was pretty unique.”

Libis and McLaughlin High School boys basketball coach Ray Taken Alive fostered their relationship when the Mustangs played at an NSU team camp this summer. Libis developed a plan for the camp shortly afterward, and said he’d be open to hosting another one for the reservation school. 

“They talked about how they don’t get a lot of resources out in McLaughlin,” Libis said. “We just want to give them the ability to see some stuff they may not see, and I thought we were able to accomplish that.”