Energetic excellence
2023 Yuma Sun/yuma Rotary club Boys Basketball Player of the Year
Cibola senior forward Derek Stanley isn’t your ordinary basketball player. Many aspects separate the three-year varsity player from the pack, such as his elite defensive skills, ability to run the floor and attack the basket.
Above all else though, it’s the amount of emotion and energy he brings to the game that led Stanley to being named the 2022-23 Yuma Sun/yuma Rotary Club Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
“(Emotion) is on thing you’ll always get from Derek,” Cibola head coach Denis Ponder said. “That’s where he gets his energy from and he finds a way to channel it into his game. He will use it on defense. He will use it to rebound. He loves to play hard and get the crowd into the game and lift his teammates up.”
The six-foot-five Stanley may not have the Raiders in any specific category, but his ability to contribute in every aspect of the game was a major factor in Cibola’s success this past season, allowing the Raiders to host a home Play-in game against the Red Mountain Lions.
The senior averaged 12.1 points per game, dished 2.07 assists per game, grabbed 4.44 rebounds per game and was good for 1.33 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.
Overall, Stanley’s goal wasn’t to put up exceptional numbers or stand out amongst a team full of talented contributors. It was to bring a home playoff game to Yuma, something the Raiders achieved against Red Mountain which resulted in a 59-49 loss.
“Being able to host that home playoff game was a really cool experience, even if we didn’t get the result that we wanted.” Stanley said. “I really wanted to make a playoff run, but to be able to get that huge crowd and host a game which we haven’t had in a long time, that was a really special experience.”
All of his numbers are the result of hard work and gradual improvement in every category since his first year at Cibola, also his first year on varsity, in which he averaged 6.5 ppg and 1.3 rpg.
As a junior he improved, averaging 8.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg and began to pass the ball more and record more steals, diversifying his game.
“Derek’s challenges at first were adjusting to the speed of the game and finding his role within the team,” Ponder said. “As a junior, he became a weapon on offense and defense, becoming more comfortable at the varsity level with his skillset – where to use his skills, how to use them – and then found a way to get his teammates involved.”
Stanley’s evolution reached its zenith as he went into his senior year, working harder than ever before. Twice a week, Stanley made the trek to Phoenix to play travel basketball to develop, train with elite coaches and receive greater exposure.
“It was a lot of long drives and a lot of work,” Stanley said. “But overall, it really helped me out and allowed me to develop my game.”
Watching Stanley, two things stand out above the rest when he is on the floor. First, the senior had the ability to lock down the majority of his opponents, particularly opposing forwards and centers that were go-to options against Cibola.
Foremost among these is Kofa senior forward Joaquin Anaya, a member of the All-region team and Stanley’s main adversary in Yuma. In the matchup between the two sides at the end of the regular season, Stanley and a rotation of Raider forwards held Anaya to just six points on 3-for-14 shooting, led by the Cibola senior.
“The best performance Derek probably had was against Kofa and the way he played against Joaquin Anaya,” Ponder said. “Joaquin is a very skilled player and can score from everywhere, but Derek found a way to outmatch him. His footwork against Joaquin was really the difference, especially against a guy who can score all over the place, spin, stop and change directions.”
Meanwhile, Stanley scored 15 points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal, capping off a
season in which the Raiders went 6-0 against Yuma County opponents.
The other aspect which separates Stanley from the rest is his high-flying, energetic style of play.
As a sophomore, Stanley learned how to dunk and incorporated into his game, resulting in some of the most exciting moments of his career, including a massive lob from teammate Jared Arias in the Kofa matchup.
“I always looked up to the players who could dunk,” Stanley laughed. “To be able to do that get the crowd fired up and be a source of their excitement, it’s just the best.”
Overall, Stanley set the standard for many aspects of Cibola basketball, including his high-flying ability and excellent work ethic, of which Ponder hopes the stars of Cibola’s future will replicate.
“Of the players I’ve coached, he’s the first that could dunk and be aggressive with his athleticism, so he sets the standard in that department,” Ponder said. “The biggest shoes he leaves to fill is with his aggressiveness on defense against some really strong players across the state. What he did for us on both sides of the ball is going to be tough to fill.”
Hailing from a basketball family, dreams of playing the sport at the collegiate level are in the works for Stanley, as opportunities at Arizona Western and other local junior colleges are on the horizon.