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"I'm really excited to watch them play on that floor," Stafford boys' basketball head coach David Montano told ABC13 this week.
On this floor, as the Spartans prepare for this weekend's UIL state semifinal, they work out below banners celebrating the program's prior trips to the tournament. However, the last Stafford team to qualify for the state tournament, the 2020 squad, does not have a banner. That's because the COVID-19 pandemic canceled that year's semifinals and final.
"We were there and didn't actually get to step on the floor," Montano recalled about the 2020 state tournament. "As soon as this year's regional tournament ended, I had a bunch of text messages and calls from those guys, the 2020 guys that didn't get to play. They're excited for our team. They're excited for these guys that they're actually going to get to play for that state tournament championship."
Montano said that because of how the season ended for that 2020 team, he would never take a trip to the state tournament for granted. One member of this season's Spartans does not take the opportunity to shoot into a basket for granted.
"Sometimes I just sit back and watch him shoot the ball around and see how it's come full circle for him," Montano said about Spartans star Dame Salane.
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Salane, the 6-foot-11-inch senior, is a native of Senegal who most recently lived in Italy. Before moving to the United States in 2022, Salane posted a video to TikTok of him training with a makeshift basketball hoop during a visit to his home country. You see, soccer is the sport of choice in Senegal, not basketball. The video of him shooting into a tire has over 2 million views.
"The gyms in Senegal are far away or really bad," Salane shared with ABC13. "I found a way to get up shots and play by myself. I started playing soccer, but I was too tall to be a goalkeeper. So I just basically focused on studies and then started playing basketball a little bit by myself."
He's now helped lead Stafford to the state tournament, where he'll play on the biggest basketball stage for high schoolers in Texas.
"It means a lot," Salane said of this opportunity to help Stafford try to win its first state championship since 1992. "That's why we're here. That's the whole goal of the season - winning it. It's not personal, but as a whole team, I'm more excited than nervous because I think I can play at that level."
Whether it's being grateful to shoot into a basket rather than a tire or being happy to actually take the floor after qualifying for state, you can count on the Stafford Spartans to appreciate the opportunity in front of them this weekend.
Stafford faces Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy on Friday for the right to play in the 4A state final, which is set for Saturday night.
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