Bejarano talks State Title with PGU

[PointGuardU.com]

PGU was proud to be the only Arizona fan site in attendance for Daniel Bejarano's final high school game. While we could have phoned in the interview we wouldn't miss the opportunity to see Daniel play.

Bejarano: Back to Back
Pras Murthy

On Wednesday night, North High School won another Arizona state championship, this time in 5A Division I. North defeated Cesar Chavez High School 71-66. The game was close throughout, with North building an 8 point lead in the final minutes and hanging on in the final seconds. Daniel Bejarano, Arizona commit, led his team with 19 points in an unusually emotional victory. "I lost my dad last summer," said Bejarano. "All I can think about is him, my mom, and my family." Bejarano's journey made this victory seem like a statement rather than a championship. As Daniel has told pointguardu.com many times, "this was about making history."
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North was the 4 seed, but they expected to win every game they played. When pointguardu.com told an assistant coach "nice win" after a close victory over Corona Del Sol on Saturday his expression said, "not really." Bejarano told PGU, "we expected to win by more." The expectation of perfection was evident as North marched through the playoffs. Despite Cesar Chavez being the 3 seed, this was no upset.

As the clock wound down, the game already decided, the opposing coach called a timeout with 1 second left. That gave most parents the chance to move down to the court to enjoy the celebration. But Bejarano's mom was standing far away, above even the highest seated fans. "I get too nervous when I sit close," she told PGU. After Daniel made it through the dozens of fans,friends, coaches, and relatives, hugging each one of them, he was finally able to sprint up the stairs and embrace his mother. The exchange lasted several minutes as everyone in the building recognized what the moment meant to the Bejarano family.

Bejarano was not the only star. Big man Alan Williams scored 17 points, with nine coming in the final three minutes as North put the game away. "I wanted it real bad," Williams said. But this was clearly a team win. As they cut down the nets, the emotion and camaraderie was palpable. Bejarano has often repeated "we're a family, it's all about chemistry." When posing for pictures outside their bus, North players first held up their index finger like so many champions do. But then, as they realized they had done this before, they held up two fingers and smiled.

When asked about the team, Bejarano mentioned player's names, one by one. Humble even in the biggest spotlight, it is obvious that Bejarano will fit in well with Coach Sean Miller, who was in attendance at Wells Fargo Arena. Coach Miller had a chance to speak briefly with Daniel, and reminded him that his next basketball game will be for the University of Arizona. Bejarano has told poinguardu.com numerous times about his excitement to play for the Wildcats. "I talk to Momo all the time. I saw him after the Arizona State game, I mean Arizona game, and he was kind of down. I told him, you're there now so don't give up. Just wait until next year."

It was a good night for the future Wildcat, as he put his stamp on Arizona history. Pointguardu.com asked Daniel, "you left high school a champion, are you ready to do the same in college?"

"Even better," he replied.

[Applequest]

Nice! Congrats Daniel! Theres nothing like going out on top. I cant wait till he gets to campus and becomes another piece in the Sean Miller puzzle.

[CaliCAT88]

It's like DB does and says knowing what a fan like myself "wants" to hear. The beautiful thing is that he is just being himself & honest & I really believe that he will be special. He seems to "care" genuinely about his teammates & cherishes their winning a Title seemingly more for them, than he does for himself. I seriously love the fact that he talks to MoMo all of the time & has the presence to "pep" talk our future leader with all of his bravado and swagger. DB is going to be the Ying to MoMo's Yang next year and Sean Miller will be loving his presence in the locker room/practice/campus. I love how close he is to his family and Mom & I can not wait to welcome him to the Wildcat Family. The in state Arizona torch has been passed beginning with Sean Elliot ~Mike Bibby ~ Richard Jefferson ~ Channing Frye ~ Jerryd Bayless ~ Daniel Bejarano

[ITS MILLER TIME]

There are so many things to like about DB, but what I'm most excited about is his ability to bring out the best in himself as well as the best out of his teammates. Congrats Daniel and North! BEAR DOWN!

[Cmurder]

The future of Zona!!

[ArizonaBBallFan1]

Congrats to Daniel and his team, can't wait to see you on the court as a Cat

[HollywoodKatz]

What I love about DB is he plays PERIMETER DEFENSE.

I look forward to watching him play along side Fogg, Momo, Hill, Lav, and hopefully Lamb. And since Coach Miller likes to run 10 deep, he probably will.

[mvpreed2]

even though this season is far from over im definitely looking toward the 2010-11season with db and the slew of other recruits that will be at arizona nxt yr..