Dalen Leftbear is back in the Lake Region.
Over at Lake Region State College, the men’s basketball team has brought in more of a local feel to this year’s squad. And Leftbear is one of the headliners.
The Tokio, N.D., native wrapped up his basketball and football careers for Four Winds High School in 2024. Leftbear was on the 2022 Indians basketball team that won a Class B state championship.
He was a senior in the first year of the three-class system, when the Indians moved to Class A and had another strong year. As he opted to continue his basketball career at United Tribes Technical College, Leftbear was one of the success stories of Rick Smith’s storied program.
“It made me a better player,” Leftbear said. “Good coaching staff pushed me to be a great player, mostly on defense.”
In the 2023-24 season, one of Leftbear’s first cousins stole most of the spotlight. Deng Deng opened eyes around the state with an explosive season — one that led to being named the second Mr. Basketball in Four Winds/Minnewaukan history.
“It was exciting to watch him play,” Leftbear said. “He was a fun teammate to play with.”
Deng has since gone on to play football at the Division I level for UND. Deng’s younger brother Marial will be joining him there soon. Leftbear helped set the foundation for the emerging Four Winds football program, while his cousins have helped expand it into sustained success.
“Our football program wasn’t that good then,” Leftbear said. “Then it started growing more and started getting better, and now they’re both D-I, playing at UND.”
But for Leftbear, basketball was the path.
Throughout Leftbear’s senior basketball season, Smith often referred to him as the unsung hero of the FW/M team. The Indians barely missed out on the state tournament amidst a competitive region, but they were consistently ranked among the top five teams in Class A. They ran into strong Devils Lake and Grafton teams that year, the eventual state champion and third-place winner.
Leftbear had a game where he scored 29 points. He was an all-region selection. While Deng was the best player on the team, Leftbear was a strong second. LRSC men’s basketball coach Jared Marshall recruited him out of high school, but Leftbear ultimately chose to go to a conference rival in UTTC, located in Bismarck.
Over there, Leftbear had a solid freshman season. He played in all 29 of the Thunderbirds’ games, starting 14 of them. He averaged 8.9 points per game and shot 51.9% from the floor. He added 3.9 rebounds per game.
“I liked it there,” Leftbear said. “I felt like it was more physical than high school hoops.”
When UTTC visited LRSC on Jan. 6, Leftbear’s presence helped bring in a more robust local crowd. Swarms of Leftbear’s family, friends and former coaches packed the Devils Lake Sports Center to watch him play against the Royals.
“It was good to play here again because more people came to watch us. … They could come watch me like every game now,” Leftbear said.
And that’s exactly what led Leftbear to transfer to LRSC: He wanted to play closer to home. Joining the Royals was a natural fit.
He and Dane Hagler, a Cando native, both transferred to LRSC after starting their freshman years elsewhere.
“Those are two guys where we developed the relationships throughout high school,” Marshall said. “And you don’t want to burn bridges. They’re more than welcome to come back home and play for us.”
The Royals even had a third local player on the team to start the year. Elijah Feather Jr., another Tokio native, originally came to LRSC after a great career for Warwick where he surpassed 1,000 points and was named the Region 2 Senior Athlete of the Year.
Feather Jr. is unfortunately no longer with the team.
“It just didn’t work out,” Marshall said. “He didn’t think the fit was good, and he just wanted to get back closer to home, and so we respected that. Disappointing. Not disappointed in him; disappointing that another guy that was local, that I saw helping us out, that could’ve played, not being on the team anymore. … I wish him nothing but the best. There’s no hard feelings or anything like that. He did things the right way while he was here.”
Still, Leftbear and Hagler will represent the local community this winter. They’re rounded out by three other North Dakota-born players on the team: Lance Bradley, Little Hail Perkins and Brennan Johnson.
Bringing in local talent is something Marshall values, he said.
“Those two guys being local, I would hope that the community would come out to support guys like that,” Marshall said. “We’ve worked really hard in the past. I know that’s really important to the community, and it’s important to me. It’s something we work really hard on. We don’t always succeed in that aspect, but we try. And when we do have it, my hope is the community would rally around us and really give us some good turnouts.”
Leftbear stands at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds. He got his Royals career started with a couple of six-point performances in the Mon-Dak Pre-Conference Tournament in New Town over Halloween weekend.
“Dalen’s a special player,” Marshall said. “He kind of brings something that we don’t have a lot of, which is size on the perimeter, the ability to guard multiple positions and get some buckets for us.”
Leftbear helps round out sort of a fascinating mix of players. Some, like Hagler, are from this area. Others come from Australia and Canada. One player, Derrick Lee Jr., grew up in Michigan and transferred from an NCAA Division I school.
“They’re great teammates. I like them. Looking forward to a good season,” Leftbear said. “It’s fun meeting new guys, especially the international guys.”
With a year of college experience already under his belt, Leftbear has loftier goals in his second go-round.
He’ll look to shine in front of his home fans.
“Be a great team,” Leftbear said of what he wants to do with this squad. “Hopefully win a region championship to get to nationals.”
Leave a Reply