From Immature Teenager To Valued Athlete, Citizen -- Ex-Husky Bergersen Now Team Leader At Boise

When you hear a coach at Boise State talk about Roberto Bergersen, you wonder if he is talking about the same guy who played basketball at Washington. That guy was a screw-up.

Bergersen, with clean good looks, a disarming smile and engaging personality, came to Washington in 1994 as a likable but undisciplined and immature product of a desultory home life. He cared more about being cool in college than about doing the necessary things to stay there.

Consequently, he didn't make it to the end of his first year at UW, then went through a chaotic period in which he attended three schools in one year and nearly gave up his academic and athletic future.

Now look at him. The 6-foot-6 senior forward is scoring 20.2 points per game and leading Boise State, which hosts Washington tonight at BSU Pavilion. He is married to a former UW soccer star, Rhonda Klein, and they have a 13-month-old son, Rylan. Bergersen also is just 14 credit hours from a sociology degree and, as anyone in the athletic office knows, he is the first one to volunteer for a community project.

"He's a rock now, with absolute convictions, values and a foundation of beliefs," said assistant coach Ed Boyce, who has known Bergersen for much of his life. Boyce was Bergersen's coach at Decatur High before going to Boise four years ago.

"Given his situation, a lot of people would bet he would not get a degree," Boyce said. "But when he leaves here, he has the option to play professional ball at some level and he'll have his degree. He has come a long way and made it through."

Bergersen faced difficult odds almost from birth. He is the son of Jack Bergersen, who played basketball for Washington State in 1970 before a knee injury in his junior year ended his career, and Ruth Hayes.

The couple had three children, but Jack never married Ruth and left the family before Roberto turned 2. Ruth, without a job and unable to raise three children, gave them to her parents, Beatrice and Charles Morehead, to raise.

The Moreheads were strong role models for the children, demanding structure and discipline, Bergersen said. However, when he turned 13, Bergersen returned to his mother's care, and that started his spiral.

"When I first came back, it was a little tough, after not living with her for so long," Bergersen said. "I was up and down. I was immature and did things I wanted to do."

Boyce, serving as a surrogate father of sorts, kept Bergersen on a somewhat orderly pace through high school, at least while he was in school. But by the time Bergersen reached college, with all that free time, the meltdown was swift.

"Responsibility was his biggest problem," UW Coach Bob Bender said. "As much structure as you might have in college, there was still a certain amount of freedom. That's where Bert had to learn about responsibility. He had to go through a lot of different routes to get there."

Bergersen dropped out of UW, went to the College of Southern Idaho, then to a Texas junior college before returning to Seattle, effectively a failure. He had blown his scholarship opportunity, was not matriculating and was getting nowhere.

While attending Highline Community College, he had long, encouraging talks with Boyce and Rhonda. He began to read the Bible again and attend the church where his grandparents had taken him. His confidence grew.

But he was without basketball, one element in his life that had given it meaning, and he still faced a long road to get any sort of degree.

"A lot of times I felt like giving up. I remember talking with Rhonda and telling her, `I don't think I'm going to make it. It's so hard,' " he said. "And I still wanted to play Division I basketball."

Bender credits Boyce and Rhonda for getting Bergersen's life on track again. He said Rhonda, as a former scholarship athlete, "could challenge him. If it was someone else, he could say `Oh, you just don't understand.' But she could say, `Yes, I do understand.'

"By the time he got to Boise, he probably asked himself, `What's going to happen if I don't take advantage of this one?' "

But Bergersen did. He emerged as a team leader. Teammates rally around his enthusiasm. He has scored 942 career points, and is on the verge of becoming the fourth BSU player to score 1,000 points in three seasons.

He and Rhonda married not long after he enrolled. Boyce points out that a lot of relationships at that age and in that environment "are rocky, but many of us can learn from their relationship. It's very solid."

Bergersen also is a devoted father. No doubt considering his own childhood, he wouldn't think of detaching himself from his duty to raise his child. He also slowly has been bringing his father back into his family's life.

"We've been getting better at talking on a more consistent basis," Bergersen said. "Our relationship is getting stronger."

Once a lost soul on the verge of slipping into hopelessness, Roberto Bergersen has found strength and a purpose from a source denied him for much of his childhood - family.

"It's a credit to Bert. He's not afraid to admit he had to become more accountable. When that happens, you look at life differently," Bender said.

"It is a good story, one more kids need to see and look at him as a role model."