MOORHEAD, Minn. – The road of life is often long and winding, with bumps and scrapes along the way. For Dragon senior Jaden Stanley-Williams, he wouldn't want it any other way. 
 
The path has taken the senior to (literally) every corner of the United States. Now, at long last, the road has led Stanley-Williams to a home in Minnesota State University Moorhead.

For where he has been and what he has gone through so far in his short life, it would be easy to assume a level of bitterness and angst from Stanley-Williams. That couldn't be further from the truth. While the 6-foot-7 senior is known for his confident presence on the floor, he approaches life off the court with a calm, often cool demeanor. In the eyes of his coaches and teammates he is two different people: a warrior on the floor and a smart, eloquent friend and teammate off of it.
 
The journey began for Stanley-Williams on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in northern Montana. Located just 40 miles from the Canadian border, the reservation was established for the Chippewa, Cree and Metis tribes following years of displacement and reservation reshuffling due to callous (and violent) malfeasance by the federal government. The Chippewa tribe, led by Asiniiwin (translation – Rocky Boy or Stone Child) incessantly fought for a land of their own from 1902 until the reservation was established in 1916. The reservation was thus named after Asiniiwin, who died before the reservation was eventually established. Today, the reservation is home to the Chippewa and Cree tribes.
 
A proud Chippewa-Cree, Stanley-Williams spent the first 15 years of his life living on the Rocky Boy Reservation. A reservation of just under 4,000 people, Stanley-Williams discovered that life on a reservation was almost never easy. However, throughout his early years, he sought and found valuable perspective within the tightly-woven community. It is perspective that shaped who he is and what he has (and will) become. 


 
"It is really humbling and it made me very grateful for just the little things. Even when I was a young kid, I always appreciated the little things like family, relationships and valuing time with others. I never really took into materialism and a lot of people play basketball for the glitz and glamour, but I played because it was an opportunity to play with my brother. I fell in love with it from then on," Stanley-Williams says. "Growing up on the res is really tight-knit and people do not know what it's like to live there. For a lot of people who do live there, it's not the best kind of living. It's tough, but it's definitely something that I am grateful for. It humbles you early and I'm just glad I got to humble myself because of that early on. I appreciate everything I have now and the life I live now because I know there are a lot of people who would love to be in this position."
 
To this day, the senior is proud of his heritage. It is something he continues to carry with him and he never forgets his time in Rocky Boy.
 
"It is literally the most important things to me. My family is extremely proud of what I'm doing. There are not a lot of kids from the res that are able to do what I am doing. Being able to show little kids from the res that they can do what I am doing, too, is an absolute honor. It's a badge of honor, to be honest," he said. "When I say a lot of people don't know what it's like on the res it's because we're not showcased like that. It's not the best of living, so when I get the chance to show my heritage and show who I am representing, what I am and what made me, I take that as part of my duty. I'm grateful to have a strong heritage and strong backing."

"Growing up on the res is really tight-knit and people do not know what it's like to live there. For a lot of people who do live there, it's not the best kind of living. It's tough, but it's definitely something that I am grateful for. It humbles you early and I'm just glad I got to humble myself because of that early on.
- Jaden Stanley-Williams

So when Stanley-Williams opted to leave the reservation just before his 16^th birthday, the choice was less about life on the reservation and more about what he could accomplish on the basketball floor. Jaden's father, who was in the military, was living in the Atlanta area at the time, offering forth another chance to thrive for Stanley-Williams. Thus, the senior decided to move himself over 2,000 miles away from Rocky Boy, where his father was waiting for him. The decision was a blessing according to Stanley-Williams, but it did not come without its challenges. 
 
"I just felt that I would have a better opportunity basketball-wise and it gave me the chance to really get to know my dad for real. Growing up in Montana, it was really small and I really didn't have a wide view of the world. I felt this would give me the opportunity to do so," he said of the move to Georgia. "It was a culture shock with how different it was, but I am definitely grateful for the experience. A lot of people don't get to experience or have that opportunity. I just feel so blessed because I got to learn so many things and going from a small town to a big city is a humbling experience. I'm glad I got to experience that at a younger age."
 
From a basketball perspective, it was the right choice for Stanley-Williams, who became an all-star and all-region honorable mention selection for Discovery High School. Not only that, his efforts on the floor led him to several offers from Division I programs. Initially, Stanley-Williams committed to play basketball for the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. At the time, he was the first Division I commitment in Discovery High School's history. It also offered him the chance to follow in his father's footsteps by joining a military branch. 
 
However, the 1,300-mile journey to Colorado Springs from Atlanta did not prove fruitful for Stanley-Williams. He chose to sit out a year as a transfer, weighing his options on what to do next. Living in Georgia, Stanley-Williams decided to enroll at Columbia State Community College, a junior college in in Clifton, Tennessee. While moving from Division I to junior college competition was a hard pill to swallow for Stanley-Williams, it led him to friend, one who would help change the course of his life.


 
That friend's name was Lorenzo McGhee.
 
"Going from DI to JuCo made me take a step back and look at my situation. It also made me want to go a little bit harder because JuCo is not a lifestyle for everyone," he said of his experience at Columbia State. "It's not the easiest thing to go through, but to have a friend like Lorenzo [McGhee], who is my brother now and to go through those times together is special. We still keep in contact with some of the guys we played with then, but a lot of them ain't hooping anymore. To be here [MSUM] with Lorenzo after going through that JuCo experience, it really created a brotherhood between him and I. He'll be in my wedding, it's that type of brotherhood."
 
Stanley-Williams and McGhee would play the 2018-19 season for Columbia State together. The duo combined to average 24.6 points and 15.6 rebounds per game for the team, helping them to a 20-win season. Following the year, both Stanley-Williams and McGhee were given Division I offers, McGhee at Nicholls State and Stanley-Williams at Morehead State (Ky.). So, the pair would go their separate ways, not knowing if they would play on the same floor again.

To be here [MSUM] with Lorenzo after going through that JuCo experience, it really created a brotherhood between him and I. He'll be in my wedding, it's that type of brotherhood."
- Jaden Stanley-Williams

In the case of Stanley-Williams, he began to see significant minutes at Morehead State midway through the 2019-20 season. The pace of the game was much faster compared to junior college, but Stanley-Williams says there are not a lot of difference between the Ohio Valley Conference (of which Morehead State is a part of) and the Northern Sun. However, he feels his experience at a Division I school helped him form good habits both on and off the floor. 
 
"Man, it was fast. The pace was so fast and the workouts we did were so hard. My first workout there, to get my offer, I threw up and laid on the ground afterwards. That pace was the hardest thing to adjust to, but once I got the hang of it, it was a ton of fun. The routine was very strict and set each day. I would wake up a 6 a.m. each day and I wouldn't get home until 9 p.m. After doing that, it actually makes a lot of things easier in terms of scheduling and time management. My time management now is crazy because I know when to do things and how to prioritize getting homework done and all that," he said. "There are not a lot of things that can prepare you for that level of basketball. Adversely, the work we do here is very similar and there are not a lot of differences between a place like MSUM, a high-level Division II and a mid-major, low-major Division I. The competition is very similar and the big differences are the level of athleticism we see, but some of the best basketball players I've ever played with are in this gym right here."
 
Stanley-Williams played in 17 games for the Eagles in 2019-20 before breaking his foot and missing the remainder of the season. That offseason, Stanley-Williams re-connected with McGhee, who was already opting to transfer to MSUM. McGhee had an interesting proposition for Stanley-Williams that summer.
 
"We had discussed it a year earlier because we were both back in Georgia and I was over at his house. He just said 'you gotta come hoop with me in Minnesota'. I wanted to try it out one more time [at Morehead State] because you just never know what could have happened that second year in Kentucky," Stanley-Williams said. 
 
The following season, Stanley-Williams dropped from the rotation at Morehead State. However, the Eagles won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament that season to punch their ticket to March Madness. Despite that big stage, Stanley-Williams desired more from basketball. That summer, two words from McGhee set the tone for what was to come.
 
"Come hoop," McGhee said in a text to Stanley-Williams. That is when the idea of playing for the Dragons came full circle.
 
"After that season, Zo reached out again and I was so interested in the idea of playing with my brother again. I knew everything we would do would mean so much more and matter so much because we are so close and we basically started college together and now we get to finish it," Stanley-Williams said. "To be able to do that with someone you consider your brother is a blessing."
 
Stanley-Williams did receive other offers from Division II schools, but felt his relationship with McGhee and the prospect of playing with him again was too good to pass up. Luckily for him, the Dragons needed a player like Stanley-Williams to take their program to the next level. 
 
"We needed a Swiss Army sort of four or five and Jaden checked all those boxes for us. We wouldn't be the same team and last year's team would not have been the same if Jaden wasn't a part of it," said MSUM assistant coach Spenser Bland. "Junior college kids and transfers can be difficult because you want them to meet you where you're at and find that common ground. Jaden was one of the easier ones for us because he was so willing to adapt and figure out what we needed. At the same time, he did not change who he was as a player or a person."
 
The 2021-22 season was enlightening for Stanley-Williams. He entered the season not seeing a lot of minutes for a Dragons team that began that season with a 6-6 record. Despite not seeing the floor as much as he'd like, Stanley-Williams used that as motivation and it only drove him harder towards greatness. By season's end, Stanley-Williams played a pivotal role as the Dragons captured an NSIC Tournament Championship.
 
"I was frustrated, I'm not even going to lie. As a basketball player, you're a competitor and you always want to play. I just decided to take that frustration and let it drive me, but not shake me. When I would see the floor and score, it felt that much sweeter, I wouldn't even know what to do with myself after I made a shot," he said. "That reward alone was worth any level of frustration I had because I worked for it. I worked for those minutes because people expect just because I was a DI transfer, that I'd see all these minutes, but that was not the case. I just kept my head down and kept working and to help our team with the NSIC Championship was a great feeling. I can't even lie."
 
Even his coaches say that drive and determination helped him become a focal point at the end of last season and into this season as well. "He is a rare breed from a mindset standpoint and a phenomenal teammate. Jaden was always finding ways to earn his stripes and he did that his first year," said MSUM head coach Tim Bergstraser, who was the lead assistant in 2021-22. "He was not playing a lot and we had to be up front with him about earning his spot. He believed in us, kept chipping away and when his time came, he capitalized."


 
In the eyes of his coaches, Stanley-Williams was able to eventually thrive in the MSUM system. A self-proclaimed gym rat, Stanley-Williams turns into a different person on the court compared to off of it. ""I think his mental approach is just special. He goes to a different place mentally every time he steps in between those lines. That is what we preach as a team and as a program," said Bland. "At the end of the day, he is going to go to war with those guys who are wearing the same color as him and after those 40 minutes, he becomes Mr. Cool again. But for those 40 minutes, he enters a place where he understands that whatever needs to be taken of, he'll do his best to take care of it. You never have to worry about Jaden being locked in. He is always ready to go."
 
"In my opinion, he has that Kevin Garnett mindset or sorts, he takes this game so seriously and that's fun to watch. You want guys that take it seriously and do everything they can to win, regardless of what the final result is. There have been times this season where maybe Logan [Kinsey] has a great game and he doesn't see a ton of minutes. That does not faze him because he is such a great teammate and whether he is playing good or bad, he is always going to have his guys' back. We're lucky to have him in our family," added Bergstraser.

"At the end of the day, he is going to go to war with those guys who are wearing the same color as him and after those 40 minutes, he becomes Mr. Cool again. But for those 40 minutes, he enters a place where he understands that whatever needs to be taken of, he'll do his best to take care of it. You never have to worry about Jaden being locked in. He is always ready to go."
- Spenser Bland

That mindset and will to succeed and improve stems from that tight-knit support system. It is something that, no matter where he has been or what he is doing, Stanley-Williams can rely on his family and friends to offer forth advice and words of encouragement. 
 
"My support system has helped me build confidence, too. My mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, to call them and have them tell me 'you got this' is special. Just hearing that is the biggest blessing in my life. For them to be able to support everything I do, even if I have a bad game, they'll find ways to tell me where I succeeded," Stanley-Williams said. "They have always done a great job of keeping me grounded because I do get in my own head sometimes. They're able to bring me back to me. I'm thankful for that because a lot of people don't have that either. I'm just so glad I can call on them and they can put me at ease."
 
Looking back on it all, a journey that has spanned across the United States, Stanley-Williams never could have imagined he would be in Minnesota. As he is wont to do, he offers forth perspective, a viewpoint that is based in humility and gratitude. 
 
"I never thought I would be here. I had a best friend when I was growing up his name was Kris Goss. He was my brother's best friend and I considered him a brother, but he unfortunately passed away when I was 12 or so. He was 20-years-old, but when I first transferred here, his mom called me and told me that they are from Minnesota and they knew about MSUM. When I turned 20, I began to think I was living the life Kris never got to live," he said. "Being here, in Minnesota, during the timeframe he would have been here, makes me think that he is here with me right now. I feel like I was meant to be here, I never thought I would be here, but being here now, I feel I was meant to be here. I was meant to grow here and grow as a man here. I love Minnesota."