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From a Mexican-American girl from Lubbock to being the top basketball prospect from her class, five-star point guard Aaliyah Chavez has defied countless odds. She stuck with her school, Monterey, despite getting scholarships with some of the biggest high school basketball programs in the country. This gamble paid off for her as she led the Lady Plainsmen to a state title.
On Monday, ESPN released its interview with the still-uncommitted five-star, ranked No. 1 overall by various rankings websites. There, she talked about several topics, including her Mexican heritage and having fellow Hispanic Americans see her as a role model as she has accomplished much in her basketball career already.
"At first, I took it as a compliment," Aaliyah Chavez told ESPN. "but as I got older I'm like, for a Mexican? I don't want to be good for a Mexican. I want to be good all around. That I'm the best. That I'm changing women's basketball."
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The No. 1-ranked overall prospect also would often hear older men say that she was "good for a Hispanic girl." Despite this, her father often tells her to focus on her game.
"I love the smoke," said her father, Sonny. "I used to chirp back and they didn't like that. One thing I've told Aaliyah, especially playing basketball, is that you're going to get your licks and they're going to get theirs, but at the end of the day, it's not that serious. We're playing basketball. There's no reason to be scared of nobody."
Sonny had been training his daughter since her younger days, but they still had time to get together as a family. However, when her high school career took off, they had to focus more on her training, and so did her siblings.
Aaliyah Chavez's father revealed how she became interested in basketball
Sonny Chavez also revealed in the same interview how Aaliyah Chavez became interested in basketball. He revealed that her getting interested in the game surprised them as she was not very athletic.
"She couldn't ride a bike, couldn't skateboard," he explained. "She didn't have an athletic bone in her body."
He added that she saw other kids playing basketball at the park and practicing some skills, like dribbling and layups, when she was eight, sparking her interest. Sonny revealed this surprised the rest of the family, but they then elected to support her in her interest. The rest was history.
