Thorpe’s Richard rewriting the record books

PINE RIDGE—Every twenty years a couple of ballplayers develop into a class a cut above all other players. If we go back to 2008, it was White River’s Louie Krogman, and from the graduating class of 2026, it will be Pine Ridge’s Marvin Richard III. Last week the 6-4 junior guard lit up Lakota Tech for 62 points, breaking the Class A single game scoring record of 60, set in 2019 by another twenty year player, Mahpiya Luta’s Ale Rama.

Krogman, Rama, and Richard are similar in skill level but very different players. Krogman was technically superior, Rama was explosive and flashy, but Richard is cut from a cloth so unique he is hard to describe. He is tall for a guard and can switch to small forward no problem. He has the calm demeanor of most of his Zoomer generation, but style wise, he is a throwback to the basketball played before the advent of the three point arc.

“I have coached a lot of great players,” Pine Ridge Head Coach Casey Means told NSNT, “but when it’s all said and done, and when (Marvin Richard III) gets his banner, he will be the greatest Thorpe to ever lace ‘em up.”

What makes Marvin Richard III great? The 49 points he put up against a tough Class AA Bismarck Century? His ability to score at least 20 points against any defense, and despite being doubled and sometimes triple teamed? That certainly helps, but Marvin’s ability to mentor and inspire the other players around him, his ability to create his own shot against any defense, those two qualities elevate him to the level of Mr. Basketball.

“(Marvin) sees things that other kids don’t,” Means said, “but what really sets him apart is his humbleness. He prepares like he is JV trying to earn a spot on varsity. Like this morning. We had morning shoot around and he was the only one who showed up, him and our little Fourth Grader, ball boy Parker Brewer. He worked out with Parker, that’s the kind of kid he is. He elevates everybody around him.”

Other teams go all out to shut down the Richard scoring machine. “We’re seeing every defense thrown at him, box-and-one, triangle-and-two, trap and full court, double team and half court, but the points he scores are scored against a defense set up for him, the strategy being to stop him. But he sees that coming, and we prepared him for that, and it just makes him better.”

A player can dominate a game with his skill and his smarts, and so no surprise Marvin has a 4.0 grade point average. His favorite class is math, and he wants to be an engineer someday, and he has the mind to read the angles and opponents and react quickly to capitalize. Defenders struggle more to outthink him than they struggle to outplay him.

Marvin Richard III was born 17 years ago at Pine Ridge, to Marvin and Toni Richard.

Marvin said that when he was small, “I just loved picking up a ball, loved shooting it, and so I always knew I was going to do something with it.”

Unlike his contemporaries, Marvin plays a style of basketball that is timeless, and would have produced similar results even back in the 1960’s. There was no three point shot in those days and so the bread and butter shot was the pull up jumper. This shot has become a lost art, players either driving to the hoop, or shooting from beyond the arc, but Marvin can hurt the other team with the pull up jumper.

“I always had that shot,” Marvin said, “The midrange pull up, just stop on a dime, pull up and hit that shot. The midrange shot gets my shooting going, so if I want to shoot the three, I have a high chance of going in when I start shooting from the midrange.”

The group outside the team most likely to sing Marvin’s praises are opposing coaches.

“Marvin is constantly moving on offense,” Rapid City Christian Head Coach Kyle Courtney said, “and he just works so hard. He can really do it all, can shoot, go by you, has a great pull up game, goes to the offensive boards and tips the ball in extremely well for a guard, and he knows how to get to the line, and he is deadly there. He just has a scorer’s instincts and mindset, lots of little things you just can’t teach, he just has that feel.”

Courtney touched on Marvin’s inside game, on his ability to crash the offensive boards, and Marvin is exceptional in the paint for a guard, but he is both humble and confident in his assessment: “I could probably work on it some more, but I know what to do (in the paint), I’ve got the IQ for it.”

Marvin describes what gives defenders so much trouble: “Being fast and tall and able to create

Creating your own shot is a skill many fans cannot recognize on the floor, because it is a rare gift, but it is essential for a player who is the main focus of the opponent’s defense. Marvin can exploit mistakes, seize opportunities, create space for his shot, by not only being one step ahead of the defense, but one thought ahead of them.

Only a junior, Marvin is still a serious contender for Mr. Basketball, A bad game for Marvin is 20 points. That would be the highlight of most other player’s season. But the Thorpes do not have any big men to stop the other team’s big men, so Marvin must work extra hard to offset that advantage. Coach Means is playing the toughest schedule in the state this season, on purpose, to get his charges battle hardened, so they are taking losses against the best teams instead of padding their record against mediocre teams. In their last game they met top rated and undefeated Sioux Falls Christian at the Corn Palace. The result was a 97-41 loss. Lack of height is not just a Pine Ridge problem, every team in West River lacks height, and that makes intelligent, shot creating guards like Marvin Richard III that much more valuable. Given how essential he is to the Thorpes’s chances for winning, do not be surprised if Marvin sets a playoff scoring record as well.

(James Giago Davies is an enrolled member of OST, Contact him at skindiesel@msn.com)

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