Aaliyah Chavez breaks down while talking about the bond with her dad: “All my problems go away... when I’m with my dad”
Oklahoma commit Aaliyah Chavez broke down to tears when she talked about the bond she has with his father, Sonny. Chavez, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2025 and his father were featured in the ESPN Originals series "Two-Gether," which had a sneak peek released on Father's Day on Instagram.
The 5-foot-11 point guard out of Lubbock, Texas, was emotionally attached to her father, who was always with her in her journey. She cried while describing her relationship with her dad.
"I love my relationship with my dad. It just grows everyday," Chavez said. "I love playing basketball. It's something that I feel like all my problems go away when I'm playing basketball and especially when I'm with my dad."
That love almost didn't materialize because of Sonny's past. Sonny Chavez admitted he was a bad boy in school and dreamt of becoming a gangster.
But when the federal agents swooped around their compound in 2012 and took his family into prison, he changed his ways and redirected his life to a life with purpose.
The change continued when his daughter Aaliyah was born and he worked all day at a car shop to provide for his family. The turn to the good side of things worked great for him, especially when Aaliyah was doing great in basketball.
"He opened up," the 18-year-old Monterey standout said. "He trusted more people because of me. I think he had more of a softer heart."
Her father trained and coached her despite having prior basketball experience. And the long and rigorous hours of work paid off as Chavez became the Gatorade National Player of the Year and helped her school win the Class 5A Division II girls state championship.
Chavez finished her high school career with 4,796 points, 1,279 rebounds and 771 assists.
Aaliyah Chavez is blessed to have her father on her side
Aaliyah Chavez is thankful to have a father like Sonny Chavez by her side as a coach, trainer and a top supporter during her stint in high school.
It was her dad who spent several hours focusing on her growth, conditioning and shot selection and helped her become one of the feared women's basketball players in the nation.
"And she's No. 1 in the country," Sonny Chavez said. "People will never give us the credit. But we made other trainers feel like it's possible. We made other kids feel like it's possible. It's a blessing to know that we did it from West Texas."
Oklahoma made the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, beating Florida Gulf Coast and Iowa in the first two rounds before losing to eventual champions UConn.
The Sooners are set to have three highly-rated recruits in Chavez, Keziah Lofton and Brooklyn Stewart next season. They hope to run it back and finish better than their 2024-25 stint with these prospects leading the charge.