By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph native and Northwest Missouri State guard Diego Bernard announced on the Fourth of July this year that he would use his fifth year of eligibility and play one more year for the Bearcats.
Bernard says conversations with coach Ben McCollum and his father, Chris, had the biggest impact on his decision to come back.
"Just (coach) Mac, my dad, sitting down, saying 'you don't want to go 10 years down the line saying I should have come back with one more year of eligibility,'" Bernard said at MIAA Media Day in Kansas City. "Just wanted to finish it off on a good note."
Bernard will try and become the first Division II men's basketball player to win four national championships. He's currently ninth in Bearcat history with 1,664 points. He's also been named MIAA Defensive Player of the Year each of the last two seasons.
Northwest appears to be a national title contender again. Surprise, surprise.
The Bearcats were chosen by the MIAA's coaches and media to win the league once again this year, as the Bearcats are coming off of a third straight national championship.
Northwest returns four starters from that team, including Bernard, who's garnered all-MIAA accolades in his first four seasons.
Bernard says conversations with family, and getting to play in front of them for another season, was a big factor in his decision to return.
"My parents don't miss games," he said. "They're always there. Having them in the crowd. It just came into my decision of coming back for one more year."
Bernard averaged 11.9 points and a team-best 5.7 rebounds per contest last season. He led the team with 75 steals and was second on the team with 15 blocks.
Northwest coach Ben McCollum says Bernard's impact goes well beyond the highlight reels.
"A lot of it is the unnoticed stuff," McCollum said. "Maybe it's just bringing energy at a morning workout and being consistent with that. Maybe it's just a side conversation with a freshman that says, 'Hey, we're good. You'll be good. I had to go through this, too.' Those are things that make guys like him very, very special. Things that nobody gets to see."
McCollum also knows family is highly important to Bernard.
"He's a big family guy, too. He's got a big family in St. Joe and they attend every game. I think that helped to be able to have him come back. I think people mistake some of the things that he does for our program with maybe some of the highlights."
Northwest opens the season on Saturday, November 5 against West Texas A&M at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Florida.
A fourth straight national title would be historic, but Bernard knows as well as anyone - those don't happen by default.
"We're a totally different team," he said. "We have to go in there and lay our ground work and what we can do this year and we're looking forward to it."
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