2015 has been a turbulent time for Colorado State University men’s basketball.
Similarly, for Daniel Bejarano, it’s been 24 years of up-and-down, taking the good with the bad; and he’s not done persevering yet.
“You can’t break me,” Bejarano said in a phone interview from his new home, Tbilisi, Georgia.
That’s because, Bejarano has already pushed through so much to be where he is, now playing for his second professional basketball team in the Dinamo Tbilisi of the Georgia Superleague.
Rewind to 2009 and Bejarano, who was an ESPNU 100 guard, was committed to Texas. But, at the National Basketball Players Association camp he learned of his father’s tragic murder. That death transformed the then-18 year old’s life, as he decided to stay closer to home to be with his family, and ended up going to Arizona. There, he played only eight games in 2010 before he was told to find another school because he wasn’t good enough to play Division I basketball.
In 2011-12, Bejarano sat out a year while with Colorado State and stuck with the Rams even when Tim Miles left in the spring of 2012 to go to Nebraska in the Big Ten. In 2012-13, Bejarano became the Mountain West Conference’s Sixth Man of the year, showcasing his versatility, averaging 6.3 points and 5.5 rebounds. He experienced the NCAA Tournament with CSU, though the Rams lost to eventual champions Louisville in the third round.
The next season was more of a downer, both for the team and Bejarano personally. While he was elevated to starter and performed well, frustrations between the talented shooting guard – who took, and made, shots so deep they should’ve counted four points – and the head coach, Larry Eustachy, came to the forefront.
Those frustrations boiled over in a loss at San Diego State when Bejarano was benched early on. He retold the story in a phone interview with BSN.
“And with the San Diego State stuff, I took the heat for that,” Bejarano explained. “He made himself look good.
“That’s not me, but at the end of the day, it just builds up,” Bejarano explained of getting up and yelling at the Eustachy on the bench. “I did what I did. I wasn’t going to hit him. I was just going to get in his face. Tell him how it is. Because, I don’t deserve that.”
Following that loss, almost two years ago to the day, Eustachy said Bejarano, “has a lot of growing up to do. I didn’t like the way some things went down so I decided not to play him the rest of the game. I just didn’t like his body language.”
That season continued in its up-and-down fashion and Colorado State finished 16-16.
Last year was Bejarano’s senior season, and it was one to remember for all the highs. And then the ludicrous low. 2014-15 was about Bejarano, Avila and Stanton Kidd, it was about a school-record 14-0 start and another school-record 27 wins. But, alas, the Rams were snubbed when it came to Selection Sunday, missing out on the NCAA Tournament. The three stars sat at the podium with tears steaming down their faces following the first-round NIT loss; a certainly sad way to end a superb career with Colorado State. Bejarano was named second-team All-MW for a second straight year.
With the Rams, he was an electric shooting guard who could knock down shots from 35 feet. He was incredibly athletic, taking players off the dribble – maybe not enough – and getting to the rack for layups when he was aggressive. He sometimes threw down nasty dunks, knew how to hang in the air to get off acrobatic shots and was one of the greatest rebounding guards in Rams history. Bejarano always seemed to have fun on the court, energizing everyone in attendance with his play.
Now, in 2015, it’s been and up-and-down year for the Rams. One Bejarano said he believes is much like his junior, 2013-14 season.
If you stop to think about it, it is somewhat similar. There was a winning streak (five games) to start this season, and it’s also following the departure of CSU’s top-three players. In 2013, the Rams were trying to put together a winner despite losing all five starters. Now, following the departure of Bejarano, Avila and Kidd, it’s a new group of young men trying to find chemistry and play the way Eustachy wants.
But, as the head coach said after one loss, there was a disconnect between him and the players. They weren’t giving all the effort on the defensive end and as he said, they “don’t know how.” Fred Richardson III then “lost the desire to play” according to the head coach, after the team’s loss to Northern Colorado on December 13, but Bejarano said that wasn’t the deal at all.
“I tried to defend Fred,” Bejarano said of his friend. “Fred’s a good player. He works his ass off in practice but he doesn’t play in the games…That’s why he did what he did. He wanted Larry to focus on the younger guys, and he’s (Richardson) trying to coach. It wasn’t he lost his desire to play, because his desire is always there, it’s just he’s working his ass off in practice but he’s not getting into the game.”
Richardson has since come back to play for CSU, seeing action in every conference game since Mountain West play tipped off on Jan. 2.
“But, obviously when he got in against Boise (on Jan. 2), I was fired up,” Bejarano continued. “I watched that game and I was tweeting away. Because I knew he didn’t lose his desire to play. Because I talked to him right there and then. I told him it’s just like my situation. I’ve gone through a lot over there and that’s where I can help.”
Bejarano now looks at himself as a mentor to the players.
“Just trying to tell them how to handle it, what to do,” Bejarano said. “I’m not just going to leave them out to dry.”
The former Rams star guard was in Fort Collins in mid-January to watch and be with his teammates, when he said he got a feel for their togetherness as a group.
“Guys are just trying to stick together and play together,” said Bejarano. “I know day-in, day-out they are. When I was there I saw it. We played video games together. The team’s together. They just need to try to win some more ball games down the stretch. Just try to find a new way to win.
“And E’s (Emmanuel Omogbo) situation even brought them closer,” he continued. “I know they will finish strong. I’m just proud of everybody.”
Ram fans should be proud of Bejarano, too, for making the pros, both in Mexico and now in Europe.
“For my pro career, it’s just the beginning,” the 24-year old said. “My life is always up-and-down. Me having trouble off-the-court as in family. Or something going wrong in my life. Or even on the court. Or even with Larry or a teammate. That’s how my life is. I’m used to it. With the whole Texas thing. With the whole Arizona thing. I just stick through it. I’m just used to it. If something doesn’t work out for me, it doesn’t work out. I’m not going to stop working, I love the game.
“You can’t break me,” he finished.
