OCC men’s basketball: Love & Basketball

Steve Virgen

Nick Burwell smiles when he thinks of what turned around his life,

a life that was unmotivated and headed for lost hope. Burwell, the

22-year-old star of the Orange Coast College men’s basketball team,

peacefully sighs when he thinks of the reason he now has hope for a

future in basketball.

The reason is Bonnie Shayeg, Burwell’s best friend and girlfriend.

When Burwell lacked focus in his studies and when he started to view

basketball as just recreation, Shayeg stepped in and changed his life.

“When I came (to OCC) I was not focused,” said Burwell, a sophomore

averaging 28 points per game. “I was out doing everything, going to

clubs, drinking and going to parties. I wasn’t committed to school or

playing ball. Two years ago, I met her (at OCC). She got me in line.

Without her I wouldn’t be right here talking to you.”

But, Burwell isn’t just surviving. He’s playing basketball at a level

that has made him one of the most exciting players in the Orange Empire

Conference.

Remember the name: Nick Burwell. He has an all-around game that could

be his ticket to a four-year university or, as he says, a professional

basketball career. He has the speed and strength to score inside. And

when he’s really on his game, he connects from long range with more than

one hand in his face.

“If I have a solid season,” Burwell says. “I’m going to try to go

pro.”

Said OCC Coach Mark Hill, “He’s going to be a guy who can go overseas

and make money, there’s no question about that.”

Burwell says he owes his “new path in life” to Shayeg. When he met

her, they took the same classes at OCC and developed a friendship that

soon turned into love.

“We’re more as friends than anything else,” Shayeg said. “We joke

around all the time. He’s very funny. He’s quite a character.”

They genuinely love each other. While Burwell thanks her for his

transformation, Shayeg is proud whenever Burwell takes the court.

Burwell said his new focus also comes from his mother, Carolyn, who

has been a constant motivator. Three years ago, she moved Burwell out of

the dangers of Inglewood, where he was raised. He had escaped numerous

fights and once he dodged bullets in a drive-by shooting in his

blood-gang neighborhood.

“It was either live there and try to survive,” Burwell said, “or live

there and die. It was better to just get out of there.”

After he and his mother moved to Orange County, Carolyn has seen a

steady progression of improvement in her son. But, he’s always been “a

good kid” in her eyes.

“He’s matured,” she said. And it’s because of “me being on his butt. I

have to be honest with you. I stay on him for everything. But, we have so

much fun, the both of us.”

She saw the maturity mesh with his stardom on the basketball court on

Nov. 22 at El Camino. That’s when Burwell had his coming-out party with a

45-point performance, the second-best single-game total in OCC history.

“That was unbelievable, “ Carolyn said. “I had no idea that he would

do that.”

The word is slowly getting out about Burwell.

He was all but forgotten after finishing a solid high school career at

Inglewood High. He had the opportunity to play for Baylor University, but

he said he decided to take the junior college route and he played for

West Los Angeles.

He then moved with his mother to Orange County and transferred to OCC.

He had to sit out a year because of the transfer. And, last year, he

couldn’t play because his grade-point average was not sufficient.

But, this year Burwell, a graphic arts major, has improved his grades

and has burst onto the scene.

“I was patient and looking for my chance and now I’m taking it,”

Burwell said. “I’m not holding anything back. Whenever I step on that

court, I’m playing as if it’s my last game.”

The 6-foot-3 guard has helped the Pirates to a 6-4 record after he

scored 30 points in OCC’s 98-88 victory over Grossmont Saturday and 33 in

a 87-84 victory at College of the Desert Tuesday.

After defeating Grossmont, Burwell believes the Bucs are now coming

together. That solid season he had hoped for is playing out before his

eyes. And the quest for an OEC championship begins when the Bucs start

conference play Jan. 4 at Irvine Valley.

“We should (win the OEC),” Burwell said. “If we all work hard and come

together and do the little things, we can win the whole thing. We may

have some trouble with Saddleback and Riverside. But Irvine Valley,

(chuckles) Golden West, Fullerton, I don’t see them beating us at all. If

we come out and work hard, it will be no problem.”