A Tribute to the Viking Seniors

Ili-Meneese, Shabazz, and Stokes will be celebrated at last home game

Marques Ili-Meneese, Tyran Stokes, and Tariq Shabazz to be honored on Senior Night.

In praise of the Rainier Beach High School boys basketball team seniors, who will be celebrated before the season’s final home game, against West Seattle.

Marques Ili-Meneese goes up left-handed. (Photo by Glenn Nelson)

𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝗹𝗶-𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗲𝘀𝗲

Tuesday’s matchup against West Seattle won’t be the last game for Marques Ili-Meneese at Rainier Beach, just the last regular-season home game. Still, he admits he might get emotional during Senior Night ceremonies.

“If my Mom (Maria) starts crying, I’ll probably tear up,” said Ili-Meneese, who has teamed with his younger brother, Micah, where their father, Tremaine, once played.

Ili-Meneese came to life, behind superpower scorers Jalen Perry and Kaden Powers during Rainier Beach’s run to a state 3A title in 2025. He scored the final five points of the second quarter, pushing the Vikings to a 32-25 halftime lead over Edmonds-Woodway in the championship game at the Tacoma Dome. He finished with 11 points, including a dunk and 3-pointer.

This season, the 6-foot-4 senior, a first-team all-league selection at tight end in football, has, along with his brother, performed unsung clean-up work in support of new teammate Tyran Stokes, the consensus No. 1 college prospect in the country.

“That whole state championship run felt comfortable, so good,” Ili-Meneese said of 2025. “Just knowing the coaches trusted me to take the shots, to bring up the ball. At first, I didn’t feel like I belonged. Later in the year, they came to me and it clicked.”

Tariq Shabazz hits a layup in traffic. (Photo by Glenn Nelson)

𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗾 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘇𝘇

This is the first year for Tariq Shabazz at Rainier Beach, having transferred for his senior season from Garfield. Already, he has been full of surprises.

Shabazz has made a big mark on Viking athletics, having earned first-team, All-Metro honors at three different positions – inside wide receiver, safety … and kicker. Was that a mis-print, actually kick returner? No, place-kicker, punter, everything.

“Our kicker got hurt, so I told the coaches I could kick, too, because I play soccer,” Shabazz explained. He said kicking field goals was “kind of easy. I did that at (Garfield), too, though not during games, but just for fun.”

Anyone who has watched the twitchy Shabazz this season for Rainier Beach wouldn’t be surprised. As the season has progressed, coach Mike Bethea has leaned on Shabazz more and more for his playmaking and ability to create chaos on defense. The 6-foot-1 senior even delivered the first dunk of his career during his team’s last outing, a 94-50 pummeling of Garfield.

Shabazz said the highlight of this season so far has been “being able to play varsity basketball at a high level. I’m grateful to be here. I’m thankful to my parents for getting me here, helping me through my journey and getting me to this point.”

𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗧𝘆𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝘀

On the eve of his Senior Night for Rainier Beach High School, Tyran Stokes already was in a celebratory mood. He’d been named to the McDonald’s All-American team, one of the most prestigious honors for a high-school senior basketball player. In conjunction, he worked the drive-in counter at a McDonald’s in Renton.

Saturday, Stokes was in Lawrence, Kansas, for a game between Kansas, one of his top picks for college, and Brigham Young, which features AJ Dybantsa, his former teammate at Prolific Prep. The home crowded spotted him and chanted, “We want Tyran.”

This is the kind of stratosphere that Stokes occupies. Senior Night might be a come-down from all of that.

However, “you only get one Senior Night,” Stokes said. Plus he will be escorted during the pre-game ceremony by his mother, Keiara. “I might get a little emotional,” he admitted.

Stokes may try to leave a gift from him to his fans and Rainier Beach classmates on Tuesday night. He first joked about breaking the school’s single-game scoring record (61 points by Jalen Petty on January 8, 2025). Then he said he wanted to execute a dunk he’s never done before.

“I want to take off from the free-throw line,” Stokes said.

After all, he’s been flying high all year long.