Former Española basketball player Azaziah Salazar credits his upbringing to his success on the hardwood.
“My childhood could be described as one word and that’s basketball,” he said. “There were times I felt that I was in the gym more than my own home.”
Salazar excelled during his junior campaign, tabbing second team all-state honors for Class 5A and was named District 2-5A player of the year. He averaged a double-double that season, averaging 19.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.
The personal accolades were topped off with the state championship victory over Capital High School, where Salazar helped secure the win from the free throw line.
“My favorite athletic moment was in 2016-17 when I made two free throws in the state championship game with 13 seconds left to put us ahead,” he said. “Hearing that buzzer sound at that moment was like a dream come true. There’s no better feeling.”
He jokingly referred to The Pit as “the dungeon,” but said once the lights come on and the cameras start flashing, the experience is “almost too much (to handle).”
The Sundevil big man will not take his talents outside of the Valley, but he will tackle much greater challenges in his conquest to become an electrical engineer as his journey into adulthood commences.
Salazar will transition to Central New Mexico Community College, then plans to transfer to the University of New Mexico.
“I hope to become an electrical engineer at Sandia National Laboratory,” he said. “I chose UNM because it has the best engineering program in the state.”
Growing up in Española, Salazar enjoyed fishing, gardening with his family – which included planting fruit, vegetables, flowers and green chile.
He was close with his family and credited his parents to all the success he has had so far.
He said a quote that his father reiterated to him since he was four years old stuck with him.
“He would always tell me, ‘Do what you got to do now, so you can do what you want to do later,’” Salazar said. “My parents taught me to never turn my back on family, because if you do, you’ll have nothing left. I wouldn’t have wanted them to raise me any other way.
“I can’t thank them enough and can’t wait until the day I can give back to my parents for everything they have done for me.”
Salazar said he will miss tightly contested games, the ritual of stretching and icing his body to recover and the thrill of walking out on to the court in front of the Española fans.
He described himself as a role model to the youth.
One special moment he will take away moving forward, is the realization of the impact he had on the community.
“Something that I’ll always take away was this last season a young boy met up with me before the district championship game,” Salazar said. “He told me, ‘When I get older I want to be just like you.’ It made me realize that I was doing more than just playing the game of basketball. I was setting an example and it was a great feeling knowing that I was someone’s role model.”