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KILGORE — Rucker Park is arguably the most famous streetball court in the world, and Travis Betran is very familiar with it. The park is in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, where Betran grew up.
As far as the mythic stories which have emerged over the past half-century, Betran said most of them are true. Especially what the spectators say at Rucker Park.
“If you stink it up, they let you know about it,” Betran said. “But if you play good, they’ll give you nicknames. They’ve called me 40 Plus because I’ll score 40 or more points in a game. They’ve called me 2K Trav because they think my game was futuristic.”
While honing those skills, which would eventually lead him to playing for Kilgore College, Betran would also experience excitement which comes from living in New York City, but sorrow as well.
The opinionated observers at Rucker Park would probably have a couple more nicknames for Betran if they saw him of KC’s Masters Gymnasium the past two years. This season Betran leads the Rangers by averaging 16.4 points per game.
Most impressive for Kilgore, which opens play in the Region XIV Tournament against the host team — Tyler Junior College — at 6 tonight, is the way Betran shoots three-pointers. He leads the Rangers by shooting 43-for-116 from three-point range, a respectable 37.1 percent clip.
What makes Betran’s scoring and accuracy remarkable was while Betran grew up in a hotbed of basketball in New York, he wasn’t really a part of it for a large portion of his grade-school days. Betran said he didn’t start playing until he was in the fifth grade, and he wasn’t serious about it until he was a sophomore at Murry Bergtraum High School, not even bothering to try out for his school’s team when he was a freshman. Betran jokes that his best sports growing up were, “Dodgeball and kickball.”
That sophomore year went well as he played well enough to be invited to a Five-Star Basketball Camp near Atlanta, Ga., the following summer. Betran said his skills then did not include good outside shooting. He admits he had terrible form at the time.
“I used to shoot with my ring finger and pinky,” Betran said. “They had me work on drills and I learned to shoot with my thumb, index and middle fingers.”
The camp also led Betran to make contacts which led him to transfer to Covenant Christian Ministries Academy in Marietta, Ga., for his last two years of high schoo. Betran also had a growth spurt at Covenant Christian in his senior year, sprouting from 5-11 to his current height of 6-3. His play there led to interest from NCAA Division I programs such as Central Florida, Mercer, Georgia and Seton Hall, but academics led him to Kilgore College.
Kilgore head coach Brian Hoberecht said a friend saw Betran in Georgia, leading to him signing with KC in April 2010.
Hoberecht said Betran’s play from his high-school days is better than he gives him credit for.
“When he got here he was fundamentally sound,” Hoberecht said. “Maybe because he got into it late he picked up some things quickly.”
While the last four years have led Betran south, he said Harlem has not been far from his thoughts. He spent most of his life there, with one of his early memories being adopted by his aunt, Barbara Betran, when he was four years old.
Betran said while he wasn’t serious about the fine details of basketball growing up, he played a lot. He said the best part about growing up in Harlem is the abundance of chances to play pickup basketball, sometimes as many as six games a day. Betran said he is also a big fan of the New York Yankees.
He said some of the stories about Harlem being culturally rich, but also dangerous, are true.
“The best part about living in Harlem, besides the basketball, was how you could shop. In one eight-block stretch, you could go shopping for clothes, food, go to a club to exercise and see a movie, and it was all a five-minute walk from my home,” Betran said. “The worst part is you have to watch out where you go. Some people have enemies, and some people will shoot you if you mess with them.
“It’s nice being able to walk around Kilgore and not worry about that.”
Betran said playing at Rucker Park let him play with and against a variety of outstanding players, sometimes from the highest level as NBA players sometimes play there in the offseason. He said some of those players included Michael Beasley of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Bobcats and Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) of the Los Angeles Lakers.
How Betran approached basketball would change on Feb. 3, 2007. On that day Barbara Betran died after a battle with cancer.
“Before every game I pray to her,” Betran said. “I do it quietly. I keep it to myself in the locker room.”
After his adopted mother passed away, Betran’s brother — Kai Ansari — became the head of the household.
Ansari would play a critical role in keeping Betran’s basketball career alive. Covenant Christian is a private school, but Betran said he did not receive a scholarship to play there his junior year. He said he received a half-scholarship for his senior year.
Betran said Ansari paid for his schooling when he was in Georgia.
“I don’t think I would be playing if it wasn’t for Kai,” Betran said. “I don’t even think I would be going to school. When I was at Covenant, I learned discipline.”
Betran said there was some culture shock coming to East Texas. He said he sometimes misses Harlem’s cuisine, especially chopped cheese sandwiches, but he had never been to a Sonic before he came to Kilgore and he likes the fast-food chain’s cherry limeades.
However going to a Sonic is a challenge for Betran. Not only does he not have a motor vehicle, because he was able to use public transportation to get around in New York, he doesn’t have a driver’s license.
Trey Potter, a fellow sophomore guard for Kilgore who is originally from Arlington, said he’s glad to give Betran rides because he considers him to be a good friend, although it took time to get to know him.
“Travis is pretty quiet. You have to get to know him before he opens up,” Potter said. “On the court, he is pretty loud and he’ll tell you what you need to do.”
Betran’s success at Kilgore has Division I colleges interested in him again. He said schools that have expressed interest include Texas A&M, Weber State, Sam Houston State, Ohio, Utah State and Minnesota.
Hoberecht said Betran needs to fine tune some parts of his game.
“Travis has really evolved as someone who can make plays without the ball in his hands,” Hoberecht said. “He has to work a little on ballhandling and defense, but he is off to a good start in all areas.”
Betran said he realizes his next school may send him to another part of the country. Then again, while he has many memories of New York City, it may not be where he’ll ultimately hangs his hat.
“I like going back to see my family and for a chopped cheese sandwich, but I don’t know if I’ll live there someday,” Betran said. “I don’t mind going someplace I’ve never been before.”
