By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Before a single tip-off of the 2025–2026 season, the buzz around Rainier Beach was impossible to ignore.
With 10 state championship trophies to his name, Rainier Beach boys’ basketball head coach Mike Bethea has built a dynasty, and he’s not done yet. But when Tyran Stokes, the nation’s No. 1-ranked player, transferred to Rainier Beach just weeks before the season began, those expectations skyrocketed.
Prior to Stokes’ arrival, Bethea already had a squad that included top players at every position. Battle-tested players like Micah Ili-Meneese, KJ Hightower, Knowledge Wright and Kam Babbs, combined with the basketball IQ and athleticism of freshman JJ Crawford, son of former NBA star Jamal Crawford, had Bethea liking his team’s chances at a championship repeat.
But talent alone has not been the standard at Rainier Beach. Each season, Bethea’s biggest challenge is getting players to buy into the program’s culture and to understand why Rainier Beach has been successful for so long.
As it relates to Stokes, Bethea was tasked with introducing a player whom he had not met and knew very little about, who happens to be the consensus No. 1 high school senior basketball recruit in the country, and getting him to understand and buy into the Rainier Beach way in a matter of a few weeks.
“I didn’t get excited about it [Stokes] because I wanted to see if he was serious about the program. But he came here, and that is where the work began. We had to get him to buy into what we were doing here at Rainier Beach,” said Bethea.
For Bethea, one of the most important aspects of his program has been team chemistry. And his fundamental vision for the program is bigger than the desires of a single player.
“Young men will come in with a preset agenda, [and say] I am going to be the guy that scores 30 points a game, and that can hurt the team more than anything,” Bethea said. “I tell them that coming in, just by understanding your role, being a star in your role, and playing this game without an agenda, is when the rest is going to take care of itself.”
For Babbs, Stokes’ transfer to Rainier Beach caught him by complete surprise.
“I thought it was just one of those rumors. But when he got here, he showed why he is the No. 1 player in the country through his leadership and his crazy athletic [ability],” said Babbs. “The one thing I love about him is that he is not selfish. He plays with us like we are anyone else. If we are open, he is going to give us the ball, but then he knows the time when he has to take over.”
In Seattle’s Metro League, which is widely regarded as one of the most competitive high school leagues in the country, Stokes quickly learned that being the top-ranked player meant hearing from opposing crowds every game. Rather than shy away, he embraced it.
“I know people are going to yell at me every game, so I don’t really try to dwell on it too much,” Stokes said. “I know some people probably think that it gets in my head, but it really just boosts me up. If the crowd is chirping at me before the game even starts, then that is when my energy [level] on the court [increases].”
Stokes’ visible passion on the court, from playful exchanges with fans to what appear to be intense interactions toward teammates, has drawn criticism from some outside of the Rainier Beach program. But those inside the locker room say the perception doesn’t match reality.
“He is just a real passionate dude that has a lot of love for the game,” Hightower said. “Even when he may be upset, it is coming from a place of [him believing in us and getting us to realize that we can elevate our game to a higher level].”
“When he is wrong, he knows that and is always accountable for what he does. So no, what people think isn’t true. He is just such a fiery player on the court, and his passion for the game is just crazy,” added Hightower.
Team leadership was a key question for Rainier Beach entering the 2025–2026 season. With vocal leaders Jaylen Petty and Kaden Powers graduating to Division I programs, Bethea needed new voices to emerge. He knew senior Marques Ili-Meneese would be one of those leaders, especially after playing a key role on last year’s championship team.
“I had Jaylen and Kaden, who were big-time vocal leaders, and Marques, who was more of a quiet leader, so I had to figure out who was going to be those two vocal leaders. And fortunately for us, Tyran really stepped into that leadership role and, believe it or not, JJ Crawford,” said Bethea. “I told [Crawford] you don’t have to be a senior to be a leader. All you have to do is gain your teammates’ respect, and they will follow.”
Though national attention often centers on Stokes and Crawford, who is arguably one of the top freshman players in the country, Bethea said that this team’s strength lies in its depth, and he insists every player is capable of taking over a game and commanding the spotlight. More importantly for Bethea is that they play together as a team and have fun doing it.
“The key to everything right now is the fact that we are all coming together. Our chemistry is peaking at the right time, and that is what you want,” said Bethea. “My concept has always been that if you have a great defense, then you don’t have to worry about offense, and that is what has allowed us to push the tempo of the game.”
“Our entire team can play defense. We are all athletic, which is actually crazy saying out loud because we really don’t have a weak link,” Babbs said. “Our average height is 6’3, 6’4. Even though we are all different in our own ways, we all have the same goal, and that is to win championships.”
The one thing that makes Rainier Beach a difficult matchup for their opponents is their ability, collectively and individually, to seize the moment.
“Coach Mike keeps us in the headspace that it is going to be a different person’s game each night. Everybody is able to know their roles, and everyone excels,” said Stokes. “We all know each other’s personalities, so that if in the game they are not doing what they should be, we know how to help get them in the spot they need to be in, get them the ball, and get them to score.”
Micah Ili-Meneese sees the chemistry as something deeper than strategy.
“We just show a bunch of love for each other, and not just for one or two players,” said Ili-Meneese. “I feel like that is a big part of our game, that we all have our own thing and it just clicks with the next guy, like a big circle, really complementing each other.”
That connection extends off the court. Team dinners, group chats, video games and time spent at one another’s homes have strengthened bonds that extend far beyond basketball.
“Everybody likes each other. We genuinely just love each other,” said Hightower.
Bethea appreciates the fact that, despite their talent and recruiting profiles, his players are still able to enjoy being teenagers.
“Their personality is so funny. They are kids who actually want to be kids, so we have to allow them to have fun and do what normal kids do,” Bethea said. “Don’t put that pressure on, hey, you’ve got to do this to get a scholarship. All that stuff is going to take care of itself. We made team bonding a big part of the things they do away from the court, so they can trust in each other and love each other. And that chemistry goes a long way.”
At the end of the day, Rainier Beach has earned another trip to “the Dome” — the Tacoma Dome for the state championship tournament — and the players owe everything to the time, energy, effort and life lessons that coach Mike Bethea and his coaching staff have poured into them.
“Coach Mike is always talking about sacrificing for your brother. We have to do the little things and sacrifice for each other to get far at the Dome,” said Hightower.
“I have never played at the Dome until I came here. I never received an offer until I came here,” Babbs said. “All of the coaches are the reason why I am even in the position that I am in right now, and their passion, I feel, is what has rubbed off on us to be able to perform.”
For Bethea, he remains confident in his team’s chances and says that the key to success is simple: control the controllable.
“We can’t predict the outcome of the game, but we set that goal every year to win, and I like our chances going into the state tournament. But it is not about that to me. It is about how we prepare ourselves to go into the championship run,” Bethea said. “We can’t slip up. We have to worry about the things that we can control. You can’t sit there and worry about the referees making bad calls. That is out of your control; we must worry about what we can do and stay focused on what we need to do, and that is winning it all.”
