As a freshman, Stephen McDaniel has discovered that Armijo’s basketball team is “a good program and a good group of guys to work with,” he said. He was inspired to try out for basketball because he had enjoyed watching college and professional teams compete on television. He said that he admires Kobe Bryant because of his determination on the court .

Now that he is on the team, McDaniel hopes to play every year. His dream is to become such a stand-out player that he can receive a scholarship for his favorite college, Oregon University, where he would trade in his Indian uniform to become an Oregon Duck.

McDaniel attended the Grange Middle School but the rest of his family spends their days at K.I. Jones. This includes his younger brother Joshua as well as his parents who work at the school. McDaniel’s favorite subject is Math and he is currently in Honors classes as he prepares to enter the International Baccalaureate (IB) program in his junior year.