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Voting for Group Finalists ends Thursday, Sept. 24. The 13-year-old rising basketball star would use the $25,000 prize to support his family.
In sixth grade, Nicholas Cenales got up everyday for four months straight to play basketball at 3 a.m. It was the only time that worked with shift schedules at the time for his uncle and basketball inspiration, Federal High School alum Jerry Duckworth.
“Our only option was to work at 3 in the morning,” Cenales told the Mirror in an interview. “Plus [Duckworth] wanted me to get used to it and adapt, because if you’re going to be a pro, you’re going to have workouts in the morning.”
Now in eighth grade at Lakota Middle School in Federal Way, the 6-foot-1, 13-year-old often plays a grade up. “I have the skills of a point guard and the height of a center,” Cenales said. Playing basketball everyday for multiple teams, Cenales has kept his eyes on the ultimate prize: playing in the NBA.
Cenales is currently up for an award that could help him support his family and reach his ultimate basketball goal. He is in the running to win Youth Athlete of the Year, an award open to young athletes across the country to win $25,000, as well as one-on-one mentorship from professional athlete Russell Wilson and a free trip to New York City to be featured in Sports Illustrated magazine.
The award is given to the person who receives the most online votes from the public. Everyone gets one free vote per day, with the option to secure additional votes by donating to the Why Not You Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Russell Wilson that provides educational support and mentorship for historically disadvantaged groups at community centers in cities across the country, including Seattle.
Cenales said that if he wins the money, he would give most of it to his mother BiancaNicole Domingue to help her buy a home. A single parent to Cenales and his 5-year-old brother, Domingue and her sons are currently staying with extended family to save money while they face financial strain.
“We’ve been going through ups and downs,” Domingue said. Appreciative of their family for letting them stay for the time being, Domingue said, “we really want our own space again, to get back into our own routine, and a little privacy.” But putting the money toward a new place was all Cenales’s idea, Domingue said.
Domingue has also supported Cenales emotionally throughout his basketball career. She wrote and published a semi-autobiographical book about the experience of doing this as a single mother, titled “While She Waits” under the pseudonym Divine Diamond. On top of working multiple jobs over the course of several years to keep up with expenses, she also started a local baking business called Deliciously Divine Sweets by Divine Diamond, selling unique treats like banana pudding cakes and gourmet chocolate-covered apples.
Domingue said the award is about more than basketball.
“I love who he’s becoming as a young man on and off the court,” Domingue said. “Teachers and principals always say Nick is a natural-born leader. He has a positive energy about him, and he’s always respectful and polite.”
“He works hard,” Domingue said. “He trains hard.”
“After school I always want to go play and practice,” Cenales said. On top of playing for his school team, Canales also plays for the Pacific Northwest Junior Vets Sports Club Athletic Union (AAU) team, traveling to Las Vegas, Georgia, Texas and California to compete against other AAU teams. Cenales also participates in Come Get Drafted, a league geared toward preparing young athletes in the Pacific Northwest to get drafted to the NBA, which is Cenales’s ultimate goal.
And when he still can’t get enough basketball, Cenales plays pickup and shoots around at local parks and community centers. Some of the prize money would go toward basketball gear, Cenales said, like a hoop for the new house.
To cast your daily free vote for Cenales or donate to the Why Not You Foundation for extra votes, visit athleteoftheyear.org/2026/nicholas-593e. Public voting will reset after several subsequent rounds of voting through the end of October, with the Grand Prize Winner announced on or before Nov. 19.
