Dedicated to Excellence

For many who harbor lofty hoop dreams, the step between high school and the pros is a one-and-done, blink-and-it’s-gone endeavor. Suit up for a year, bask in the adulation, declare for the draft (ready or not), then rake in the big bucks. Maybe.

 

Student-athlete? Seems far too often it’s athlete-student. Or maybe just athlete. Forget the student part.

 

Then, there’s Robbie Beran, Collegiate’s 6-9, 215-pound multi-position standout who as a junior this past winter earned All-Prep League and All-VISAA honors on the strength of his ledger that read 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three blocked shots per game during the Cougars’ 21-6 season.

 

“Robbie takes pride in his academics, and he’s done some impressive things on the court,” said Del Harris, Beran’s coach at both Collegiate and Team Richmond Garner Road. “He could easily be this 6-9 guy with 20 Division I offers and gloat in the limelight, but he wants to be a part of the student body and a leader and excel in the classroom. He embodies everything we do here as far as being a good citizen, good student, and good classmate. That’s so much bigger than basketball.”

 

That said, basketball has been a significant part of Beran’s life for as far back as he can recall.

 

Along the way, he also played YMCA soccer and Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association baseball, but his freshman year at J.R. Tucker High when he earned a spot on the varsity basketball team, hoops became his athletic focus.

 

By the time he transferred to Collegiate a year ago, he had already established a presence both on the local scene and AAU circuit. A two-year starter for the Tigers, he averaged 20.2 points and 10 rebounds in 2016-2017 and was named first-team All-Conference 11.

 

“Robbie is very coachable,” Harris said. “He’s very unselfish. He’s worked on his ball handling. He’s worked on his triple-threat. He’s constantly asking, ‘Coach, what do I need to do better?’ He trains in the morning before school. That’s not something anybody is making him do. It’s what he wants to do. That’ll separate you from the rest.”

 

Beran’s self-imposed wake-up call two or three times per week comes at 5:30 a.m., after which he drives to the Weinstein Center at the University of Richmond to work out an hour or so under the guidance of Anthony Ervin, a former Fork Union and St. Francis University player who runs the Scoop Hoops Skills Development program.

 

“In years past, I wasn’t a morning person,” Beran said. “Now it’s become a routine. I focus on technique in specific areas of my game: footwork, fine-tuning my shot, ball-handling, learning different moves in different situations, whether it’s in the post or on the wing.”

 

As many as four afternoons per week, he lifts at Foundation Academy in Midlothian. His never-cut-corners approach addresses the details that others less grounded, less conscientious, and less dedicated might gloss over. In his mind, you see, he’s not just preparing for his senior year or college career. He’s preparing for tomorrow and the next tomorrow and on and on.

 

“I want to continue to do the little things,” he said. “I know that I need to get bigger, stronger, faster, quicker. I want to be a more complete, versatile player. That won’t happen overnight. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

 

In his first game for Collegiate this past season, Beran matched up against the multi-talented, highly acclaimed Dajour Rucker of Cape Henry Collegiate. In the Cougars’ 60-47 road victory over the perennial VISAA power en route to a 15-0 start, Beran lit up the 6-6 Marshall University commit for 19 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and five blocks.

 

“Robbie does a lot of things well,” Harris said. “He’s very skilled. In today’s game, a lot of tall guys want to stay out on the perimeter. Sometimes, you have traditional bigs who aren’t comfortable on the perimeter. Robbie is comfortable inside and outside.”

 

This past winter, even with a strong cast of players including 6-7 Hampden-Sydney recruit Jack Wyatt, Beran often drew staunch defenders determined to take him out of his game.

 

Despite the pressure (and expectations), he remained poised, unflappable, and seemingly unfazed by, well, anything.

 

“I don’t like to put a lot of stress on myself,” he said. “I don’t really care about my stats. I used to get worked up about things I couldn’t really control. Definitely, over time, I’ve learned to focus on what I can do to make the team better from tipoff to end-horn.”

 

Beran has applied that same mindful, intentional approach in the classroom. He credits his parents Paula and Bob with instilling an academics-first mentality in both him and his sister Annemarie, a former JRT standout who now plays for Christopher Newport.

 

During his time in high school, he’s compiled a 4.0-plus grade point average. This year, he’s taken advanced placement classes in biology, statistics, and government. All told, he’s completed 11 AP or dual enrollment classes (through J. Sargent Reynolds Community College while at Tucker).

 

It stands to reason, then, that his accomplishments both in the classroom and on the basketball court have attracted the serious attention of college recruiters.

 

“Academics are a huge priority,” he said. “When I’m first introduced to a coach, they ask, ‘What are you looking for in a school?’ My immediate response is that I’m definitely looking for a high academic institution. And the relationship I have with coaches, players, and other students. And is the (basketball) system a good fit?”

 

Beran’s first firm offer came last summer from Mt. St. Mary’s. Since then, coaches at St. Francis, VMI, UNC-Charlotte, Rice, Florida International, Marshall, James Madison, William & Mary, George Mason, Richmond, Winthrop, Wofford, UNC-Greensboro, Columbia, Princeton, MIT, Dartmouth, Lafayette, Bucknell, Lehigh, and American have invited him to join their programs. He’s also received interest from Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, and Maryland. Harris has no doubt that the number will increase as Team Richmond Garner Road launches into its summer circuit and the July “live” recruiting period occurs.

 

“Coaches ask, ‘What kind of kid is he?’ Harris said. “I tell them, ‘He’s an outstanding, high-character kid that you’d love to coach. It’s always ‘Yes, Sir. No, Sir.’ Then I get, ‘How bad does he want it?’ I tell them, ‘He’s not somebody you have to motivate. He’s very self-motivated.’”

        

Beran is managing the process well. He’s enjoying the ride, not at all as an ego thing but as a learning experience. He’s as humble as they come. He listens intently and politely to the pitches. He’s made his priorities clear. Coaches, he says, have shown understanding, respect, and restraint. No one has crossed the line. No one has blown up his phone.

 

At the moment, he has no top choice. He’s allotted five official visits, but he’s yet to make even one. Neither has he set a deadline for narrowing his scope or announcing his selection. When he makes his decision, though, no doubt it will be informed and well-advised. Meanwhile, he’s savoring each step along his student-athlete journey.

 

“I always know there’s more work to do, in the game as well as outside the game,” he said. “That’s the way I was raised. Stay true to who I am. Don’t let anything change my persona or character. Always push myself to improve. Keep perfecting everything. Nothing’s a given. I know I can’t take anything for granted.”

   -- Weldon Bradshaw