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Deonte Tatum uses love of basketball to improve lives of others
A basketball standout himself, Tatum won two state championships while at Milwaukee Vincent before playing two years at Indian Hills Community College and then the University of Hawaii. (Courtesy: Deonte Tatum)

Deonte Tatum uses love of basketball to improve lives of others

MILWAUKEE (BVM) — People who know Deonte Tatum would not be surprised by what he has been able to accomplish in his life so far.

“I think for the longest of times most of the coaches that I played for they kind of always would say, ‘When you’re done you’re going to make a great coach one day; you’re going to be a great leader,’” Tatum said.

Even before he finished his college basketball career, Tatum was able to practice his ability to train and coach others. Every summer when he would return to Milwaukee he would work out at his old high school. Once he was finished with his workout, he would then train the Milwaukee Vincent players, teaching them the things that he had just learned.

It was during those early training sessions where he began to realize how much he had learned since he had left high school. Part of that realization was the fact that he wished he had the opportunity to learn all of it prior to college.

“Those things that I learned from those guys that were training me made me just think about how fast and how much information from the game of basketball you can soak up when you’re in the right environment,” Tatum said.

Once he had finished his playing career, he stayed on at the University of Hawaii as a graduate assistant.

“For me, once I was done playing, I personally needed a break from playing because at that point I was working out like eight to 10 hours a day,” Tatum said. “Once I got done, I went on a personal development binge where I focused on other areas of my life and so coaching just happened to be one of those areas.”

After dedicating most of his life to the game, he wanted to still be around it but at a lower intensity than what he had been training at. Coaching gave him that opportunity.

Tatum graduated from Hawaii with a degree in sociology, moved back to Milwaukee and began teaching. He took a short hiatus from training basketball players as he focused on his family and his teaching career. But it wasn’t long before he got back into it.

Around 2010 he began coaching his daughter’s basketball team. From there, he began to train his daughter and her friends. Then it began to grow through word of mouth within the community.

“I saw the need again to start training players,” Tatum said. “If I can equip these guys now, it’s really going to help them.” 

Tatum then formed The Way Basketball, LLC a player-development company based out of Milwaukee. With the company, Tatum hoped to pass on his wisdom to the next generation, building off his own experiences.

“Everything that I do stems from a very personal experience and knowing all the things that I think I would’ve wanted as a child to kind help me to be better earlier,” Tatum said. 

With that in mind, he approaches each training session whether it is a clinic, one-on-one or team session trying to show these young basketball players how basketball can affect their lives positively.

“Basketball is a journey and it can lead you in many different ways,” Tatum said. “The way that you treat the game of basketball is going to have a huge impact on what you get in return from it.”

Showing them how to be lifelong students. Teaching them to take the life lessons that they learn from basketball and apply them to their lives. Tatum’s goal is to teach younger people to be better players, students, community members and friends when they finish working with him and then pass on what they’ve learned to others. 

“Be energetic, be enthusiastic, hold people accountable, hold yourself accountable, continue to do that and watch how you raise the level of team play around you,” Tatum said.

The Way Basketball, LLC has grown since its small beginnings and has become a successful business for Tatum and the coaches that work there with him.

“I’m fulfilling the purpose in my life,” Tatum said. “I value that and appreciate that.”

However, his player development is only part of that purpose. Tatum has also founded and runs a non-for-profit organization called Above and Beyond the Playground, an organization that provides academic and athletic mentoring for kids from middle school to early college in Milwaukee.

Started in 2015, Tatum first began to form the idea for the organization during 2012. He had torn his patellar tendon playing basketball and the added downtime during his recovery allowed him to begin to form what Above and Beyond Playground would eventually become.

Tatum had been putting his sociology degree to work and had been evaluating his home and community, taking note on how people he had grown up with were doing in life and what factors played into their current situation.

“What were those things that kind of made the biggest difference for some of the people that in my mind I would deem to be moving forward while other people are stuck,” Tatum said.

At this same time, he was coaching kids who were struggling in school, so many times, instead of practice, he would just do study time. 

Through his evaluations of others in his life and even looking back at his own personal experiences, Tatum began to form the basis for what he wanted out of Above and Beyond the Playground. 

“Basketball gave me the opportunity in school to change not only my life but improve it and also to then make that same impact for others,” Tatum said.

Basketball helped him attend college, travel across the country playing the sport he loves and then have the wisdom to affect change in other people’s lives. However, another important part of the journey that allows him to relate to the kids he is trying to help is his childhood that in many ways resembles their own.

“I think I am able to offer a very authentic approach and insight because of that,” Tatum said. “I can be authentic with them, I can be transparent with them and they for the most part can relate to it. My story is similar to most of theirs on a lot of different fronts. It comes from a very authentic, honest and passionate place.” 

His passion and love of helping others grow is the main reason why the organization is now at three different schools and works with hundreds of children. His dedication to what he believes in has gravitated people towards the organization.

They too want to help others and Tatum works hard to keep their energy up to his level.

“I’m always intrinsically motivated,” Tatum said. “I don’t need much from the outside world to be motivated, but when I notice those small wins I’m going to go tell everyone else about it because I feel like that energy and enthusiasm is going to keep those people around me more excited and more motivated to keep coming back to do what they do every day. For me, that’s all that I really want to see. I want to keep really great people around me, keep really great people around the young people and their families in our community.”

Those small wins are the most important thing to everyone involved with Above and Beyond the Playground.

“We all collectively talk about these little wins,” Tatum said. “We can see the personal growth that these young people are having we’re winning everyday and that’s what keeps us excited. I think people like to be around great experiences like that. To see people just doing better and knowing that you had a hand in that.”

That energy is contagious. Each day, Tatum and those that work with him bring that energy to their work and they expect it out of the kids. When the kids don’t bring the energy they call them out on it. They set expectations, teach the kids professionalism and convey to them to be a blessing in someone else’s life.

They have seen many success stories in the five years the organization has been around. Some kids have gone on to play collegiately and others have gone to college to pursue a career and started their own business. The now-adults who benefited from Tatum’s program in turn become guest speakers and try to pass on what they learned from Tatum to the next generation.

That is the Tatum has done for all who spend time with him. Whether it is through training with The Way Basketball, LLC or through Above and Beyond the Playground, he hopes that those people take what they’ve learned and use it to help others, creating a ripple effect.

The success that Tatum has had has only pushed him to work harder. According to him, there is still work to be done and he is more than willing to do it. This is his purpose in life. He loves what he does every day and will continue to make an impact in so many people’s lives.

“I just don’t see it stopping ever,” Tatum said. “I’m excited that it’s not going to.”

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