{"id":52270,"date":"2025-08-08T06:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T06:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/52270\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T06:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T06:42:07","slug":"skagit-county-basketball-community-honors-ethan-chapin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/52270\/","title":{"rendered":"Skagit County basketball community honors Ethan Chapin"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new mural has been placed inside the gymnasium where Chapin spent countless hours training; now it’s serving as inspiration to a new wave of athletes.<\/p>\n

SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. \u2014 Inside the Skagit County gym where Ethan Chapin<\/a> honed his skills, the former Mt. Vernon basketball player is now memorialized with a mural.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visitors and athletes who enter Tyler Amaya’s PNW Rain<\/a> training facility are greeted by an image of Chapin dressed in his basketball uniform.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beneath the image is a plaque, explaining his long connection to Amaya and his program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Ethan was a bright light \u2014 full of warmth, authenticity, and an energy that made others feel seen and valued,” the plaque reads.<\/p>\n

Chapin was coached by Amaya from fourth grade through high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amaya said Chapin spent countless hours inside the gym.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think Ethan just loved life. He loved basketball, he loved people, he loved to play,” he said.<\/p>\n

Long before Chapin and three other University of Idaho students were killed on Nov. 13, 2022, Amaya developed a bond with Chapin and his siblings.<\/p>\n

Amaya coached Chapin for about eight years.<\/p>\n

“It kind of grew into this brotherhood. Ethan was friends with everybody. To know Ethan was to love Ethan,” he told KING. “When I see that [mural], there are so many amazing kids that come through those doors. It’s just a reminder there is a little bit of Ethan in all these kids.”<\/p>\n

The mural is just the latest way Amaya is honoring Chapin.<\/p>\n

His group is holding a 3-on-3 tournament Aug. 16-17, which helps raise money for scholarships and open gym time as part of Hoop for the Valley<\/a>, the charitable organization Amaya founded in 2023 to honor Chapin.<\/p>\n

The organization helps connect low-income children to the game of basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chapin’s twin siblings Hunter and Maizie serve as board members.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Amaya hosted a series of clinics for a wide range of basketball players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The evening session included high school and college athletes, including Gonzaga-bound Davis Fogle, who grew up playing with Chapin.<\/p>\n

“He always had a smile on his face just encouraging everybody. He was super fun to be around, he never had a bad day,” Fogle said. “It’s an awesome way to honor him through basketball. It can inspire people in many ways. It shows Ethan respect and that we love him.”<\/p>\n

At the end of the clinic, the group gathered and bowed their heads. On the count of three, they yelled “Ethan,” a not-so-subtle reminder that many of the gym’s values are rooted in Chapin’s legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new mural has been placed inside the gymnasium where Chapin spent countless hours training; now it’s serving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-52270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}