Hopewell News

In case you haven’t heard it blasted over the radio, played pre-game at a basketball game or sung out of a young person’s mouth — in his song “Empire State of Mind” Jay-Z proclaims “... Since I made it here, I can make it anywhere ...” when speaking of New York.
Pedro Berrios Sr. used to say the same thing to his son, Pedro Jr. The older Pedro came from the Bronx. He was drafted to play baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates out of high school, but chose the college route and headed to Florida State to play baseball. The younger Berrios has a similar kind of journey but in a different place.

Losing your best friend

Pedro Berrios Sr. was killed in a car crash in July. He was on his way to pick up his son, Elijah. For Berrios Jr., a star player on the Hopewell High School basketball team, it was like losing his best friend.
“He was my best friend,” Berrios Jr. said. “He always told me, if you want something, nobody can tell you you can’t have it. It’s about how you want it.”
This mentality would explain a lot about Pedro Berrios Jr. The way he plays the game of basketball, especially. When recently asked about Berrios’ game, Petersburg High School star, and friend, Du’Vaughn Maxwell smiled and described him as a huge trash talker.
“He’d just come up the court and say ‘watch this,’” Maxwell said.
Berrios wants to make every game special and every play within that game special. The motivation to do it all comes from his father.
“Every game I just talk to him before the game during the National Anthem,” Berrios said. “I just go out there and try to perform for him.”

A Walking contradiction

Trash talker? Talk to Pedro Berrios Jr. for five minutes. Ask him what he likes to do in his spare time. Ask him what he does before basketball games. There isn’t a lot to talk about. He doesn’t do much.
“I mostly stay to myself because that’s just the best way to be. You learn more by yourself. You get the best workout by yourself, ...” Berrios said. “I just try and stay positive and work hard and I hope it will work out in the end.”
Then ask him about basketball. What’s most important out there? Pedro names two things; Confidence and study. Studying makes sense. He likes to keep to himself. Before games you can find him in the bleachers ... at the very top ... “just thinking about the game and visualizing the game in my head.” But confidence? Confidence isn’t for people who sit at the top of the bleachers and keep to themselves. Confidence is for vocal leaders, right? Right?
Now, watch Pedro on the court. Watch him get his teammates hyped up and ready to play before the game. Watch him bring the ball up the court like a guard and bang in the post with the likes of Marvin King-Davis, Jaquan Daily, Quinton Spain and Travis McKie. This can’t be the same person, can it? Can it?

Learning from the older cousin

As mentioned before, Pedro Sr. was a baseball player. Younger brother Elijah, even at seven years old has come in that mold as well (according to Pedro, he can name every player on the Yankees).
“Everyone tells me I have the perfect baseball setup, my name my height...,” Berrios said.
So how in the world did Pedro Jr. end up playing basketball? Having former Prince George and Virginia State standout Terrell Crockett as a cousin helps.
“ I remember some nights we’d go to the court at 12 o’clock at night, turn the car lights on and we’d just play one-on-one and we wouldn’t leave until I won,” Berrios said. “He had a real positive impact on my basketball career because I didn’t live with my dad for him to teach me baseball.”

Dealing with circumstance

There are several things that Berrios could be unhappy about in his basketball career. He plays for a high school team in which he often times must defend the post. He plays in an area that is, perhaps unfairly, often times passed over by college recruiters. Pedro had his chance to move on to the “next level” of high school ball at Benedictine where he would play with elite-level talent such as Michael Gbinije, but things fell through after his father passed away.
“ It kinda took a toll and took a big set back so I came back to Hopewell keep my head and stay focused,” Berrios said.
Berrios has made the best of his time at Hopewell. While his roll wasn’t quite as great on last season’s senior-laden team, he stepped up this season to be the team’s leading scorer. He looks at his roll on defense as a chance to learn, improve and refine skills.
“Last year I had to battle Dot [former Petersburg player, current Virginia Tech forward Cedarian Raines] ... It tells you where you need to be on the college level because the big men in high school are going to be like the guards in college,” Berrios Said. “It’s about thinking the game too. If he’s right handed, he’s going to turn with the jump hook with the right hand ... It’s about studying the person that you’re checking.”

Thinking ahead

Ask Pedro Berrios what he wants to do with his life and he’s very quick to respond.
“I want to play professionally, whether it be overseas or the NBA,” he said.
That’s the standard answer for a basketball player with New York roots. But there’s more to the story than just that.
“Mostly, I want to go to college and get a degree so I can take care of my little brother and sister.”
To his credit, Pedro even knows what he wants to major in, which to many high school students is a question akin to being able to name the capital of Nicaragua.
“I think I want to manage in sports management. I want to be an agent,” Berrios said. “If I can’t make it in basketball, I want to help someone else get to where I wanted to be. Not necessarily live my dreams through someone else, I just want to help someone else. I just want to stay in the basketball world.
Out of it all, Berrios hopes he can set an example for his younger siblings, especially his little brother.
“I want to make sure I have everything straight so I can help them,” he said. “I’m young but I’ve seen a lot of things both negative and positive. If I can help him not go that way and go the positive way, then I’m happy.”

There are some parallels between the line that Jay-Z says (O.K., Sinatra fans, he said it first, but that’s not the point) and Pedro Berrios. Berrios’ New York birth and mentality bestowed upon him by his father give him the motivation. Now growing up in Hopewell, he has the chance to make from anywhere ... to anywhere; even perhaps, back to New York.