‘I did have something to prove.’ Donatello Tupper of Roosevelt (OR) does just that after being a late roster addition for the WAVOR boys basketball all-star game

By René Ferrán | Photo by Ken Waz 

Roosevelt post Donatello Tupper wasn’t initially chosen to play in Sunday’s WAVOR The Game all-star basketball series. 

The 6-foot-5 forward helped the Roughriders return to the Class 6A state tournament for the first time since 1958, where they eventually placed sixth. He was added to the roster after teammate Raysean Seamster dropped out of the event last week when he decided to reclassify to the class of 2023 and attend BFL Prep in Seattle. 

“It was hard not to get picked on the team at first,” Tupper said. “But I proved myself today, yeah?”

Yes, he did, finishing with 15 points — 13 coming in the second half — five rebounds and four assists for an Oregon team that lost 128-98 to Washington in the 26th edition of the series. 

“I did have something to prove,” Tupper said. “It’s like, when I got picked up, I was like, it was a great opportunity to play in this game. It was fun practicing with a group of guys who are really good, playing better guys in practice and bonding with them.”

Tupper, like many of his Oregon teammates, has not decided where he will play next season. He acknowledged being tempted to follow Seamster’s path to a prep school but said he likely would not take that route.

He has talked with College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, which qualified for the NJCAA Division I national tournament this winter, as well as PCC, Mount Hood, Linn-Benton and Lane. 

“I just need a year or two to develop at that level,” he said.