'Bush' boys enjoy a warm reception

The Louisiana Bayou Flame’s Gauno Da’Vaughn drives toward the basket as Alaska Ice player Jayvin Williams defends during the AAU national championships at Shorter College in North Little Rock.
The Louisiana Bayou Flame’s Gauno Da’Vaughn drives toward the basket as Alaska Ice player Jayvin Williams defends during the AAU national championships at Shorter College in North Little Rock.

Playing approximately 3,500 miles away from his hometown, Caden Smeaton has enjoyed his first trip to central Arkansas with the exception of one minor detail.

"I really haven't disliked anything, except for the heat," Smeaton said. "The heat gets to me."

Folks in Arkansas shouldn't hold it against Smeaton when it comes to his opinion on the humid conditions that afflict Arkansas during the summer. Smeaton and his AAU basketball teammates are accustomed to a different kind of climate, where the average daily July temperature is 56 degrees in one of the more remote areas of Alaska.

"Where they grow up in is 'The Bush,' " said Matthew Murphy, who is in his third year of coaching the Alaska Ice and is in Little Rock this week for the AAU Boys' Basketball National Championship tournament. "Where they live is completely foreign to everyone down here. This is good ... for our kids to see how other people live."

The Ice are based out of Bethel, a city located near the west coast of Alaska, approximately 400 miles west of Anchorage. According the 2010 census, 6,080 people live in Bethel, making it the ninth-largest city in the state.

Accessible only by air and river, Bethel is the main port on the Kuskokwim River and is an administrative and transportation hub for the 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Murphy said getting in and out of Bethel usually requires a flight on a short- to medium-range twin jet narrow-body airliner.

"There are two flights out a day on Alaska Airlines," he said. "It's not like they are flying 'bush airplanes' from Anchorage and back. We've got either the second- or third-largest airports in Alaska. ... We've got about 6,500 people, but it doesn't look like 6,500. There's no infrastructure."

Murphy, 28, is originally from the southeast Nebraska town of Beatrice and is a graduate of the University of Nebraska. He currently teaches junior high and high school English.

"I got a job through Career Fair right out of college," Murphy said. "I said 'let's go' and I haven't looked back. I've been there five years and I love it."

Bethel gained some national attention in 2012 when it was reported that a Taco Bell would be coming soon, but in reality it was an elaborate hoax. Taco Bell corporate responded by airlifting a "taco truck" to Bethel to serve up 10,000 tacos for the community. The event was featured in a commercial for Taco Bell.

"That's been a great deal for us," Murphy said. "Taco Bell has partnered with our school and they flew 40 of our kids to [Los Angeles] in the spring for a week-long leadership conference. ... They've done a lot for our school."

Subway is the only chain restaurant in Bethel.

"Otherwise, it's like strip-mall Chinese," Murphy said. "We have six or seven Chinese restaurants and a sushi joint. But it's good sushi."

Murphy has brought a team to play in the AAU National and AAU Super Showcase tournaments the past three years, but this is the first year his team has played in central Arkansas.

"Normally it's in Orlando, but this year it was in Little Rock so we changed our tournament schedule," Murphy said.

His players arrived June 20 in Lincoln, Neb., and played in several tournaments before arriving July 8 in Little Rock, where they are competing in the 15-under division.

"This has been an awesome trip," said Darrell Garrison, a 6-1 guard who attends Bethel Regional High School. "You get here and you realize you're playing against a different level of talent. There isn't a lot of talent in Alaska."

"This is a good experience for us," said Smeaton, who is from the even more remote town of Dillingham City. "If there's any chance of us playing college basketball, we know we're going to have to step up our game after seeing all of the talent here."

The Ice have gone 1-3 in the Super Showcase and lost all three of their games in the Division II tournament, and after nearly a month on the road, they will head back home Tuesday. Murphy said the team will probably fly into Anchorage on Tuesday night and spend the night at the airport before boarding a flight to Bethel on Wednesday.

"It seems like they always get stuck on the red-eye," Murphy said.

Smeaton said the team has been made to feel welcome in Arkansas.

"Sometimes it's fun to be in the city," Smeaton said. "Where I'm from, it costs a lot to go anywhere so we don't get out much. It's nice here, a lot of nice people. They ask a lot of questions and are very curious about us."

Sports on 07/12/2014

Upcoming Events