Lapwai’s Titus Yearout leaves lasting legacy on proud and storied program

Lapwai loves its basketball.

The town of around 1,400 and the seat of government of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, particularly loves its players. And with 11 state championships, there have been plenty.

But Titus Yearout may be the best of them all.

The 6-foot-2 senior point guard is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,990 points and counting. He’s the first boys basketball player in school history to sign with an NCAA Division 1 program (University of Idaho). And Yearout has led the already proud and storied program to new heights with the highest ranking ever as the No. 2 overall team in Idaho.

Yearout will look to give the program that he’s devoted his entire life to, one last parting gift - the first undefeated season since 1989 and another state title.

No. 1 Lapwai (24-0) plays No. 8 Lighthouse Christian (13-10) at noon Thursday in the first round of the Idaho Class 1A D1 Tournament at Vallivue High School.

"The tribe, the community, the town of Lapwai really want to thank him," said Lapwai assistant coach and former player Tommy Miles-Williams. "There’s a lot of young men here that look up to him and after seeing everything he’s accomplished, now know that anything is possible."

Yearout used to be one of those young men.

He grew up watching and even playing with former Lapwai legends like College of Idaho’s Ivory Miles-Williams, who just became the second player ever to win four Cascade Conference Tournament titles. Ivory and his brother Tommy first met Yearout when he was in the fourth grade at a family tournament. Lapwai coach Zachary Eastman was introduced to him around the same time too while officiating a game when as a 10-year-old was going up against kids four to five years his age.

"You usually don’t get muscle and definition until you’re way older. He was created a little differently than normal kids," Eastman said. "Everyone kind of knew around here that he was kind of the next one up."

He was to be the cornerstone of a special class. A class that also includes seniors Kross Taylor, Lydell Mitchell, Chris Brown, Simon Henry, AJ Ellenwood and Michael “B.B.” Bisbee, who tragically died at 8 following an accidental shooting. Yearout, along with the rest of his teammates honor him every game by placing shoes and a jersey with the No. 32 on the front and “B.B.” on the back on a chair at the end of the bench. His is the only jersey that has a name on it.

"We really use this game as a way to come together as a community. It’s very therapeutic to a lot of us," Tommy Miles-Williams said. "Regardless of what the score is, these kids play for more than just a record. It’s more than that. I’ve had meetings with kids where they’re in tears because this is the one part of their life where it feels normal or just a safe place."

For Yearout - the oldest of eight children - it was to play college ball. A dream easier said than done. Especially in Lapwai, where recruiters rarely get out to. It’s why guys like Trevon Allen, a family friend, left their hometown to play elsewhere. Allen moved 17 miles north across state lines to Clarkston, Washington. It allowed him to sign with Idaho before playing professionally for Pallacanestro Cantu of Lega Basket Serie A in Italy.

But Yearout wanted to show that it could all be done in Lapwai.

"All I needed was like that one opportunity," Yearout said.

He earned second-team all-state honors while playing with his cousins Kendall Leighton and Payton Sobotta his ninth grade year. But it was sophomore season when Yearout really burst onto the scene. As a captain and what Eastman called an "honorary assistant coach," he led the state in scoring at 29.5 points per game on his way to a first-team all-state selection.

However, neither of those seasons resulted in what Yearout and the community care about most - championships. They had to settle for a pair of third-place trophies instead.

There was none of that last year, though.

Yearout averaged 24.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game while totaling 43 points in playoff wins over Liberty Charter and Grace to get Lapwai to the 14th state title game in school history . He only had eight points in the final against Riverstone. It didn’t matter. The Wildcats routed the Otters 82-60 to move into a tie with Idaho Falls and Moscow for the second-most titles of all time with 11.

"Those are the great basketball players when you can make other people better around you," Eastman said. "And that’s what he brings to the table. He doesn’t need to score, but he demands so much attention that it leaves our other players more ability to score."

Yearout followed that up with a standout season with Idaho Select last summer when he dropped 40 points in the championship game of the Cal-Live Summer Showcase in Irvine, California on July 11, 2021. Just four days later, he received his first D1 offer from the University of Idaho.

Despite other offers from schools like College of Idaho and Central Washington, along with interest from Boise State, Yearout committed to Idaho in September. He made history by signing his national letter of intent on Nov. 11.

"It’s a huge honor," Yearout said. "I feel like I’m leading by example. These players on my team see what I’m doing every day. They understand what it takes

"Coming from a small school, you already have a chip on your shoulder. You just have to prove to everyone that you can do big things in a small town like this."

The team has done the same thing this season.

The Wildcats have shown they’re much more than just a 1A D1 power. Seven of their wins have come against higher classification teams, including 5A’s Lewiston, which handed Lake City its only loss, and Coeur d'Alene, that loss in the state play-in game.

Lapwai is averaging nearly 83 points per game, and has scored 100 points four times. It has an average margin of victory of almost 37 with all but two wins coming by double digits - both of which were during the first five games of the year. The Wildcats also own the longest active winning streak in the state (33).

Four players are averaging double figures in scoring, including Yearout (15.5 ppg) to go with 7.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Sophomore Kase Wynott leads the team in scoring at 25.0 ppg. Taylor, who just reached the 1,000-point barrier a few weeks ago, is at 14.0 ppg, while junior Terrell Ellenwood Jones rounds it out with 12.0 ppg.

And to top it all off, Yearout is playing with his younger brother Ahlius.

“I feel like we can play with anyone in the state right now with the team that we have,” Yearout said.

And with a transcendent player in Yearout, why not?

But no matter what happens, he won’t soon be forgotten. Forever remembered for everything from emphatic dunks - check out the one-handed slam stare down pinned to his Twitter page - to opening doors for others like Wynott, who is well on his way to becoming the second D1 signee with Washington State University already showing him interest.

"I don’t even know how to put it into words. It’s meant a lot to me," Yearout said. "It’s been a huge part of my life and it’s kind of been my second family. It’s not only just basketball. It made me become a better person."