PBS Documentary 'Medicine Ball' Follows Native College Hoopers
Saint Paul – October 29, 2026 -- PBS will air the documentary Medicine Ball on November 9 at 8 pm CST, during Native American Heritage Month. The film follows two Native college basketball players at the University of Minnesota Morris.
Two athletes play on a former boarding school site
Dakota/Diné filmmaker Leya Hale directed the film. It tracks Lexus Redthunder and LeRoy Staples Fairbanks IV through college life and basketball on a campus built on the site of a former Native boarding school. The film shows basketball as a way to carry culture forward, build community and find joy amid adversity.
Hale said: "Medicine Ball is about more than basketball."