Owen Nathan, aka ‘Mr. Triple-Double,’ does it all for Roosevelt Roughriders

The 6-foot-2 senior guard shines in every aspect on the court — and basketball is just one of four sports at which he excels

Owen Nathan does some of everything for the Roosevelt Roughriders. "He's just a stud." / Photo by Dan Brood

The lists.

They’re impressive.

On one list, there’s scoring, passing, rebounding, lock-down defense and being a leader.

For the other list, there’s basketball, soccer, football and track and field.

What makes these lists even more impressive is they belong to the same person — multi-sport, multi-talented Roosevelt senior Owen Nathan.

“He’s just a stud,” Roosevelt boys basketball coach Jamarr Lawson said. “He’s a multiple-sport athlete. He does a lot of special things for whatever sport he signs up for.”

Right now, that’s basketball.

And, wow, is he ever doing a lot of things — a lot of special things — for the Roughriders.

“Owen Nathan, ‘Mr. Triple-Double,’ he’s everything to our team,” Roosevelt junior Fuzzy Montague said of the 6-foot-2 senior guard. “He’s the motor; he’s everything that we need.”

Owen Nathan / Photo by Dan Brood

Nathan entered the 2024-25 high school basketball season as the only returning starter from last season’s Roosevelt team that won the Portland Interscholastic League championship, won first- and second-round Class 6A state playoff contests and triumphed twice at the Class 6A state tournament to earn a spot in the Class 6A title contest.

In the championship game at the University of Portland Chiles Center, Roosevelt held a 43-36 halftime lead, only for Central Catholic to rally in the second half to come away with an 85-76 win — and the state championship.

Nathan, in last year’s title game, scored 15 points (second-highest for Roosevelt) with five rebounds and four assists.

He sounds determined to help the new-look Roughriders get that far, and take that one more step, this year.

“If I have to score, I’ll score. If I have to move the ball, I’ll move the ball — just whatever the team needs,” Nathan said after the Roughriders’ 73-53 win over Grant in a PIL showdown Saturday at Roosevelt High School. “But on the flip side, I have to defend the best player every game and get us going on defense.”

To say Nathan is excelling at basically everything for the Roosevelt squad might be an understatement. He had an amazing couple of triple-doubles for the Roughriders less than 24 hours apart last week.

Friday night, Nathan had 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in an 82-48 victory at Jefferson in a PIL contest. Saturday afternoon, when the Roughriders played host to Grant in what was looked at as a possible PIL championship contest, Nathan scored a game-high 28 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the victory over the Generals, putting Roosevelt firmly in the driver’s seat in the race for the PIL crown.

Owen Nathan / Photo by Dan Brood

He’s doing all of this while also serving as a team leader, along with Montague and junior Syrius Owens.

“The leaders of the team are me, Fuzzy and Owen. But he’s the senior,” Owens said. “He’s one of my best friends here at the school. He’s playing a lot of sports — football, basketball, soccer. He’s helping us a lot — back-to-back triple-doubles.”

“I like being a leader, along with Fuzzy and Syrius, getting my guys going every game,” Nathan said.

Nathan and his guys got going right from the start of Saturday’s showdown. Nathan, emotionally letting out a yell at times after scoring on hard-nosed drives to the basket, tallied nine first-quarter points, and by halftime, he had 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, helping the Roughriders claim a 32-26 lead at the break.

In the second half, when Roosevelt pulled away, Nathan looked more to get the ball to his teammates.

Near the midway point of the third quarter, Nathan grabbed a defensive rebound, drove up court and fed Owens for a thunderous two-handed dunk. Nathan let out what was likely his loudest yell of the game after that play.

He yelled again in the fourth quarter after he fed senior Omar Eno for another dunk.

“I love my teammates,” Nathan said. “I love Syrius, I love Omar, I love everybody out there. I like seeing them shine just as much as I like shining myself.”

Owen Nathan / Photo by Dan Brood

Nathan’s heroics aren’t limited to the basketball court. This past fall, he shined in a big way for the Roosevelt boys soccer team as a forward and team captain.

Nathan had four goals in a 7-5 win over McNary on Sept. 19 at Roosevelt High School, making him the school’s all-time leading goal-scorer. He finished the 2024 regular season with 20 goals and six assists, earning first-team all-Portland Interscholastic League honors. He scored a late winning goal on a header for the Roughriders in a 3-2 win over David Douglas in a Class 6A first-round state playoff match.

“I grew up playing soccer, but my biggest love is basketball,” Nathan said. “I do think they kind of feed in with each other, on the IQ aspect of it. I just play soccer for fun.”

And there’s more.

“I kick for the football team, and I run track and field as well during the spring,” Nathan said. “I like staying in shape, working on my body year-round. That way, I never lose a step. There’s no rest.”

He certainly hasn’t taken things easy during this basketball season.

“Basketball is his first love, and he’s worked tremendously hard on his game,” Lawson said. “He’s improved his shooting and improved his play-making ability. It’s been really different for him this year, to see him walk into a primary role after playing with some guards like Terrence Hill, Utrillo Morris and Chance White last year. The way he’s walked into this with a purpose, and with how coachable he is, he’s just a true stud.”

Right now, that ‘true stud’ is enjoying his senior basketball season at Roosevelt.

“I’m having a blast,” said Nathan, who has committed to play college basketball for Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls. “At the start of the season, it was a little rough. We started 2-6, but we’ve won —what? 11, 12 in a row now?”

Well, it’s 12 in a row after the victory over Grant. And if the multi-sport, multi-talented Nathan and his teammates have their way, there are many more wins — maybe the biggest win of them all — to follow.

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