College Corner: GMC Guard Doug Berzins

Gwynedd-Mercy junior guard Doug Berzins has a lot to show in his collegiate basketball career. Coming in to his freshman year, he said he didn't know what to expect, but in the end, he played a lot of minutes for the Griffins, which transitioned into many more over the next few years.

"Right away, I got lucky and was able to play a lot and I got a lot of time in," said Berzins, a 2009 graduate of . "I really had to work hard and earn my spot because it's a huge difference between high school and college. Everything's been working out so far and it's been going good."

Berzins said his transition from high school to college wasn't easy, with there being more distractions off the court and playing against some of the country's better basketball players. He also noted his coaches have different styles.

However, the learning curve was not impossible to overcome. With solid high school guidance, Berzins was able to prepare for what was to come.

"My high school coaches always taught me to keep getting better through working on my fundamentals," Berzins said. "That's what will get you better. I was able to work on that in the offseason and carry it to college."

Despite Berzins' hard work, he and his teammates saw a tough loss in the championship game last year. But, it wasn't the first time Berzins experienced the same proximity to victory.

"My major goal now is to finally get a championship," Berzins said. "At Spring-Ford we came up short and last year we came up short in the championship for college. We have a really good team right now. I have confidence we can get a championship. We'll keep working hard and getting better and hopefully we can get there."

The importance of that championship is all too clear to Berzins, who does not plan on continuing his basketball career post-collegiately. Berzins is a business-finance major with plans in the financial or accounting field.

"It's definitely something I know I really missed out on in high school," he said. "For it to happen again in college and knowing I only have two more years left and that I'll never be playing basketball again, it makes it that much more important to finally get a championship before the end."

On the academic end of things, Berzins again pointed back to Spring-Ford for helping in his preparation. He noted that he gets better grades now than he did before.

"I think Spring-Ford did a great job in getting us prepared and letting us know what to expect," said Berzins. "A lot of the stuff I learned in high school, I was able to put toward my papers and work in college. I wouldn't have been able to have done that without my Spring-Ford education, I know that."

Overall, he hopes that he can come back to the Royersford area and help out someday.

"I hope that I can eventually somehow come back and help out," he concluded. "If any parents or anyone's kids need help, I'll totally help them out. I just want to say that I know the times I spent playing basketball at Spring-Ford definitely helped me out for the future."