Amos Poe takes leadership to a new level with Des Moines North basketball

"Great start, yeah, great start.”

Amos Poe is quick to offer encouragement to his teammates, and he follows his words with brief applause. It’s a moment of respite in the early moments of this Wednesday night basketball practice.

Outside, the temperature is unusually warm for early February – what Midwesterners sometimes call false spring.

But inside a high school gym on the north side of Des Moines, the air feels a bit thicker with each pass, shot and block.

Some players are absent from this Des Moines North basketball practice, kept home by injury or illness. That means increased reps – more time moving, less time resting – for the present players.

Poe reaches for a Gatorade water bottle, tilts his head toward the ceiling and shoots a stream of water into his mouth.

Sweat drips from his green-and-white reversible practice jersey to his black-and-gold Adidas Dame 8 ‘G.O.A.T. Spirit' sneakers. He clutches the bottle close to his chest and raises one fist in the air.

His teammates follow suit.

It is Poe who breaks the huddle – and every huddle during practice – with a three-second count and one word:

Ubuntu.

It's a concept described by Desmond Tutu as the essence of being human.

“It essentially means, ‘I am because we are,’” North head coach Julian Seay said. “If you were just one individual human being, without others, you wouldn’t know how to talk, how to walk, all these things. It speaks on the importance of us having each other in order to be human beings.”

For North’s players and coaches, it emphasizes the importance of teamwork.

The Polar Bears need each other to learn and grow in the sport, to compete in and win games and to change the way high school basketball fans think about Des Moines North.

No player on the roster understands that better than Poe.

Poe in a leadership league of his own since freshman year

The 6-foot senior guard didn’t play varsity basketball in his freshman season at North.

But even in his first year of high school, the administration saw something special in him.

That is why – when North needed to fill the vacancy for head coach of the boys basketball team at the end of his freshman year – those in charge of the hiring process invited Poe to join the interviews.

On May 20, 2021, Poe – a 15-year-old student in a room full of adults – welcomed a familiar face to the room. It was Seay, who coached Poe at Kingdom Hoops and had known the North basketball player since elementary school.

Poe approached the interview with determination and a maturity well beyond his years.

“Man, it was surreal,” Poe said. “I was really grateful that they let me be in that interview. It was really humbling for me because I would have never expected them to put me in that type of position.”

The two have known each other so long that Seay remembers Poe as a fourth grader, getting dropped off at the gym with his little brother. Fast forward a few years, it was the start of Poe’s sophomore season and Seay was in his first year as North’s head coach.

“I immediately felt a responsibility to make sure that we had some success while he was here,” Seay said. “I feel like it’s our responsibility to make memories for this dude.”

And the Polar Bears did just that.

North finished the 2021-22 season – Poe's sophomore year – with a 2-21 record.

In his junior year, the Polar Bears improved to 5-17.

In Poe’s final year of high school basketball, North finished the regular season with a 14-8 overall record and sits atop the Iowa Alliance Conference with an 11-1 record.

No need to be the leading scorer to be a leader

It took a village – or, in this case, a team – to turn North from a two-win program to a 14-win one in a matter of years.

Poe was instrumental in the turnaround in ways that aren’t shown on the stat sheet.

He is not North’s leading scorer; that title belongs to Wisdom Fode.

He is not North’s leading rebounder; that title belongs to Fode, as well.

He is not North’s leader in assists; that title belongs to Naszir Lamar.

With an average of 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game, Poe does not lead North in any statistical category.

He does do a lot of the little things: taking charges, fighting for possessions, upping the energy on the court.

“I’ve always thought Amos was a leader,” Seay said. “He just needed an opportunity and space to lead his way.”

Slowly, the pieces fell into place for Poe.

He found his voice as early as sophomore year, but his teammates didn’t share his drive and competitive spirit. Seay turned around the team, and Poe ensured that his teammates bought into the culture change.

By his senior year, Poe learned how to be an effective leader.

“He’s not just getting on guys, and when he is, they know it’s because he wants them to be better,” Seay said. “If they do good stuff, he’s high-fiving, he’s telling them good job. He balances both sides.”

Years of hard work pay off for Poe

Between his leadership and consistency, Poe emerged as the type of player college coaches would want on their roster.

He is a team player through and through, someone who cares far more about the program’s success than his own. He doesn't play for one of the top teams in Iowa, though, and his name doesn't pop off the scoresheet.

That didn’t matter to Graceland University.

Deep into his senior year, on Feb. 4, Poe picked up an offer to play college basketball for the private, four-year institution in Lamoni, Iowa.

“It’s been a struggle, trying to get an offer,” Poe said. “It was nerve-racking. But through God, all things are possible. I kept focused, kept believing, and it just happened.”

Graceland basketball competes in the NAIA, a sports association separate from the NCAA. It might not be a highly-coveted Division I offer, but, for Poe, it is more than enough.

Regardless of if he picks up additional offers, he will become the first person in his family to play any sport in college. He will show his younger brother, Aaron – who plays for North and who Amos admits could be better than him – what is possible.

He will fulfill a dream that tracks back to his childhood.

He will get a college education, free of charge.

When asked what it was like to see Poe pick up the Graceland offer, Seay needed a moment to compose himself. It means as much to him as it does to Poe, and the North coach swallowed his emotions before responding.

“It’s been a goal of ours to have four-year schools be interested in our guys,” Seay said. “To know all the work he’s put in for years, that's why it means something.”

Amos Poe: Des Moines North’s chief energy officer

Poe’s teammates and coaches refer to him as their CEO, or the Polar Bears’ chief energy officer.

After observing one practice from the sidelines, it’s easy to see why he earned that title.

There is rarely a moment when Poe is quiet. He is quick to cheer on his teammates. He is the first to respond when one of North’s coaches poses a question. He doesn’t complain once during the entire hour-and-a-half on the court.

If there was a poster child for leading by example, it would be Poe.

“Amos taught me a lot about allowing players to be themselves,” Seay said. “The three things that we build off are trust, commitment and care. And that’s Amos.”

Poe’s high school career isn’t over yet.

Des Moines North faces off against Sioux City North in the first round of substate play on Monday, Feb. 19. The higher-seeded Polar Bears earned the home-court advantage for that matchup.

Poe wants to take his team beyond that game, though, all the way to the state tournament.

“It’s been a while since North’s been there, and it’s really rare for a DMPS school to make it to state,” Poe said. “I feel like we’re right there. And I feel like once we do that, it’s going to bring the community together.”

That quiet leader in Poe peeks out once again, focused on the community rather than himself. Representing the northside well is what drives Poe, who stays behind by himself after practice to get in some extra shots.

When his high school career is complete, Poe hopes he’s left a legacy.

“I want to be known as a leader, someone who cared more about his teammates than himself.”

And maybe that statement is most indicative of who Poe is as a person. He wants to be remembered as a leader.

He doesn't even realize that he already is one.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines North basketball winning with the leadership of Amos Poe