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The University of Maine men’s basketball team’s unlikely success this season has been built upon a philosophy of “less me and more we,” but if one player is more deserving than the rest, it is the Black Bears’ lone senior, point guard Junior Bernal.
The future looks bright for the two-time America East All-Academic team honoree, but there was a time not so long ago that success must have seemed as far away as the unknown land of southern Maine that would later become his home. Bernal grew up in the Washington Heights region of Manhattan, with both parents incarcerated when he was 13. Bernal has recalled on several occasions not even knowing where Maine was while he struggled to find structure in his chaotic world.
Now, as he nears the end of his college basketball career as an academic standout and the assist and steals leader for Maine’s top public university, his complicated journey toward the realization of his talents — on and off the court — is one he can look back on fondly. Indeed, Bernal seems to find solace in recalling the first memories that led him to basketball and eventually to his new life.
“I remember my mom used to play,” he said. “She never really went far with it. She used to play back in the Dominican Republic, but I can remember seeing her play when I was about 5 years old.”
Basketball began as an innocent endeavor for the son of Dancalis Garcia and Luis Bernal — child’s play — just as it does for many, but his aptitude for the game proved liberating when his AAU coaches saw potential in him as a basketball player and a man.
“I got involved with an AAU program called New Heights and I wasn’t doing that well in school so they suggested I leave and go to a boarding school,” Bernal said. “And I always wanted to play college basketball, so I knew that the best thing for me was to leave the city and go to boarding school.”
Living with his aunt, focusing on basketball and attending school at his whim, Bernal recognized his need for structure and change and made the decision to attend the Hyde School in Bath.
“It’s a real different experience from New York City to Maine, but it was for the best,” Bernal said. “Everything I have now … that whole journey helped me mature as a person and a player and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
After cleaning up his act in three years at the Hyde School and one year of preparatory school at Maine Central Institute, Bernal garnered scholarship offers from several Division I schools across the country.
It is a testament to his commitment, both to himself and to the state that gave him a second chance, that he chose the scholarship offered to him by the University of Maine.
“There was just a lot of people in Maine who wanted to help me and wanted me to succeed, and that whole atmosphere from the boarding school is the same at UMaine.”
“It’s good to go home on vacations and all that,” he added, “but I knew that if I wanted to succeed and to really be focused, I needed to be in a place like Maine where it’s quiet and I could really focus on academics without all of the distractions.”
Much has been made of Bernal’s inspiring story of perseverance and personal validation, from the highly-publicized piece chronicling his journey that aired on NESN last February to the fervent curiosity of outsiders exemplified by a feature written on him by a Syracuse basketball reporter when UMaine traveled there for a game this January. But it has not been until this, his final season in Black Bear blue and white, that he has been validated by basketball success at the Division I level.
“I think we’ve shown that if you keep working hard and persevering … our success this season has shown how that pays off,” he said. “I’m really happy how things have gone and that I’m having this type of year for this team.”
In addition to team success, Bernal has also enjoyed a fair amount of personal success this season, notably passing UMaine great and current coach of the NBA’s Dallas Maverick’s Rick Carlisle for 10th place on Maine’s assist leaderboard.
It would be easy for him to revel in such an accomplishment, but Bernal only acknowledges the feat sheepishly, preferring instead to focus on the here and now.
“I haven’t really thought about it much but I think after the season I’ll start thinking about those sorts of things. It’s always great to be mentioned among great players and kind of being part of history, but I’m really focused on this season right now.”
And Bernal’s focus, which has permeated all aspects of his life in his pursuit of prosperity, reflects the protean power of sports to transform lives.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for basketball,” Bernal said. “I wouldn’t be able to afford coming to college, and I know athletics motivated me in my academics because I knew I had to do well academically if I want to play basketball, so that gave me the chance to earn my degree and try to become a positive citizen.”
Bernal earned his bachelor’s degree in child development and family relations last December, and is now pursuing graduate courses while steering the ship for the Black Bears on the basketball court. Once his playing days are over, Bernal hopes to work with disadvantaged youths to help them find the same well-deserved success he has earned.
