photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Haskell coach Adam Strom tries on a championship hat after the Fighting Indians defeated Northern New Mexico 57-52 on Sunday, March 2, 2025 at Coffin Sports Complex in Lawrence.

Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball coach Adam Strom was among nearly 40 federal employees fired from the university on Valentine’s Day, but he knew in his heart that he wasn’t done.

At his termination meeting with Haskell Athletic Director Zach Wilkerson, Strom said one of his first questions was if he could still coach the Haskell women — then ranked third in the Continental Athletic Conference with a 4-1 CAC record — as a volunteer.

“I feel like anybody that has a passion for something in life isn’t going to let anybody tell them ‘no you can’t,'” Strom told the Journal-World on Friday. “And so I guess that’s where my passion overrides my sense of reality because I mean, there’s no way I was not going to coach basketball.”

And so, as the Journal-World reported, Strom stuck with his team. He stuck with them through an 87-18 win over Kansas Christian College on Senior Night the very next day. He stuck with them through an 88-61 win over Washington Adventist in the CAC Tournament semifinal on March 1. And he was standing with them on March 2 after holding on against No. 1 seed Northern New Mexico to win the tournament 57-52 and earn a trip to the NAIA National Tournament.

There, they’ll face a No. 1 seed again in defending champions Dordt University this Friday. Strom is expecting a fight.

“They have a long history of being successful,” he said, “and that’s where we want to be at Haskell. I’ve been here four years, and we’ve made the national tournament three years, and we’ve had zero wins. To say we’re due is obviously an understatement, but to do it against the No. 1 team in the nation is definitely going to be a challenging task.”

They’re used to challenges. The Haskell women opened their season on a four-game losing streak that included the home opener against Sterling College on Nov. 8, and it wasn’t until the Puerto Rico College Sports Tour in December that they were able to string two wins together in a row.

But they finished strong, and in the end, they were the ones hoisting the CAC trophy and cutting down the nets in their own gym.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Haskell’s Myona Dauphinais hoists the CAC championship tropy on Sunday, March 2, 2025, in Lawrence, Kansas.

‘Termination led to determination’

When the team learned of Strom’s firing after the Senior Night win, they were pretty emotional, Strom said. They wanted to know why.

“I just explained to them that life’s not fair, and that I’m going to make it through this, and they had to be persistent in their goals and not derail and lose focus of what they’re set out to do. And that request was answered.”

Answered, and raised.

“What they do in practice, what they do in games, what they do just in their day to day lives is admirable. For me as a coach, I watch them and see what they do and it really this adversity really drew their focus together more as a team.”

He told them that in this moment “termination leads to determination.” But for him it was more than a lesson in staying on track. With “100% buy-in” from the team, the school and the community, Strom didn’t find many physical challenges to his new situation, but the mental aspect was a workout. With a family to support and a team to guide, he had to tell himself he could push through the pain of losing the federal job he’d only recently acquired after spending three years on contract and the uncertainty of what the future held.

“As I learned about this, it’s really done a lot to align my core values…I’ve been a more determined individual just in my day-to-day life.”

But the support has helped: He received zero resistance from the school when it came to being a volunteer head coach.

The team had his back, and the community was fired up. Fans packed the purple and gold seats of Coffin Sports Complex and bled into the bleachers during tournament games as chants of “Let’s go Haskell!” echoed off the walls.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Fans cheer for Haskell Indian Nations University on Saturday during the Continental Athletic Conference semifinal Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex in Lawrence, Kansas.

There have also been protests and community meetings about the federal firings as a whole and ways to help the workers. In addition to that, a GoFundMe organized to help Strom with expenses raised more than $9,000 before he asked for it to be closed.

“It’s unreal. It really was unreal. I would have never guessed that there were that many people willing to support the cause,” Strom said.

And support for the Haskell workers didn’t just come from Lawrence. When Tiffany Anderson, the superintendent of Topeka Public Schools, heard about the situation at Haskell, Strom said she reached out to his wife, Relyn, the principal of Robinson Middle School in Topeka, with a job opportunity for Strom, who also has credentials in education and administration.

“Not only me,” Strom said, “but she wanted any Haskell employee that needed employment.”

There was a job fair, Strom said, and shortly after he was hired to be the dean of students at Highland Park High School. Last week was his first full week on the job. And, he said, the district agreed to be flexible with him, knowing that if reinstatements came, Haskell was where he wanted to be.

“We have some great recruits. We have some underclassmen. We have some redshirts. This program is on the rise and I want to see them go as far as they can possibly go.”

Choosing Haskell

The university is no stranger to turmoil. It began as a boarding school meant to strip Native American youth of their culture. It transitioned to an institution that embraces Native culture and provides educational opportunities to Native Americans of all federally recognized tribes, but in recent years a revolving door of presidents and allegations of wrongdoing have hung over its image.

But students and athletes still come. Families come. The Haskell women’s team includes twin sisters Mahpiya and Wakiyan Irving. The men’s team includes Strom’s sons, Bryce and Bryan, and Alexander Ellenwood, whose relative Jaspen plays Haskell volleyball.

“I think that, you know, here at Haskell we have a sense of family due to our similarity, and that’s Native American, and I think we look after each other,” Strom said, adding that the NAIA school makes a point to offer the opportunity for siblings to play together. “It’d be difficult to play at some schools. You know, they might only recruit one sibling that fills their quota for that position. Here at Haskell we’re willing to take on family and just if you can compete and if you can play, you know, regardless of your position or size, I’m going to play you.”

And Haskell athletics has done well, recently. In addition to the women’s basketball team’s CAC championship, the men’s cross-country team successfully defended their conference crown earlier this school year. And Strom is certain that success breeds success.

“People want to go where they see people like themselves. People see Native Americans, they’re succeeding; ‘I’m Native American; I want to go there and succeed as well.'”

That’s a message that resonated with redshirt freshman Lila Bible, who came to Haskell this year from Marland, Oklahoma. She received scholarship offers from schools running the gamut from junior colleges to Oklahoma University — even an offer from a school in Spain, she said — but Haskell was her choice.

“Strom was the first one to really believe in me. He was the first offer that I ever really had to play,” Bible said, adding that Marilyn Goodman, a fellow Marland resident who played basketball at Haskell from 2021 to 2024 (and softball from 2022-24), was also an inspiration. “I know she was a good person and I really believe in her. I believe in the program, and I’m glad I’m here.”

Bible wasn’t entirely surprised when the news broke about Strom’s firing. Her mother works with Indian Health Services and was also waiting to see if she would receive a letter that she was no longer employed. But she also was unsurprised when Strom said he was sticking around.

“I didn’t expect anything less from him,” she said. “He treats it exactly as it is. It’s more than a game. Just as he’s said many times before, we play for Indian Country.”

And that’s a fact Strom reiterates as they aim to topple the defending NAIA champions in their hometown.

“I tell them a lot of teams play for their college; some people play for their town; some people play just for their name, but at Haskell we play for Indian Country. So a victory for us would be a victory for Indian Country.”

Haskell will face Dordt at 5 p.m. Friday in Sioux Center, Iowa. A win, Strom said, would be nothing short of amazing.

“It’d be noteworthy, storybook worthy, movie worthy. If we could knock off the No. 1 team, it’d just be a piece of history that nobody probably could ever relive.”

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

The Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team practices on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Members of the Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team take a breather during practice on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Star Her Many Horses (13) and Malia Jacobs (23) watch a shot during practice on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

The Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team practices on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Coach Adam Strom watchess the Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team during practice on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Coach Adam Strom applauds the Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team during practice on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Coach Adam Strom watches the Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team during practice on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Coach Adam Strom directs the Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball team during practice on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Coffin Sports Complex.