A basketball body that has been as dominating as UCLA has over the last four seasons requires a strong heartbeat.
Few have pumped harder during that time than Bruin point guard Darren Collison.
Widely regarded as one of the top point guards in the nation, the senior has been an integral part of a UCLA run that has landed the Bruins in the past three Final Fours.
One member of the ASU basketball team can attest that Collison’s success has been the result of a constant work ethic.
“The guy works crazy hard all day,” senior forward Jeff Pendergraph said.
ASU’s snarling senior leader should know. Pendergraph and Collison were teammates during their time at Etiwanda High School in Etiwanda, Calif., where both made the varsity starting lineup as sophomores.
During their final two seasons, the current Pac-10 rivals led one of California’s most dominating basketball programs to a 62-5 record.
Pendergraph said that while he didn’t know just how good Collison would end up being, he knew the work that the 6-foot guard put in would give him a chance to be special.
“In high school, I’d go home and sleep or something and he’s … [at] 24 Hour Fitness,” Pendergraph said. “He was really there like [24 hours].
“And that’s what happens when guys are in the gym like that; they become stars. It’s not something you are kind of born with, it’s hard work.”
Though quick to praise his former high school teammate, Pendergraph himself has rarely been one to shy away from a grueling training session.
Sun Devil coaches have often lauded the senior’s ability to get up for every workout, and according to another coach, it has been Pendergraph’s style for quite some time.
“He is one of the most competitive people that I have coached in my career,” said Dave Kleckner, the Etiwanda basketball coach who helped blossom the talents of Pendergraph and Collison.
UCLA’s star guard said Pendergraph’s intense energy is now tame compared to what it used to be.
“I think he was even more intense back then,” Collison said.
Collison said that the intensity the two had would collide at times.
“We would butt heads, but in a good way,” Collison said. “We both wanted to take over the game.”
Kleckner said that while Etiwanda has had a number of players with intense basketball personas, having Pendergraph and Collison on the team at the same time was something entirely different.
“Normally you’ll get one of those guys, but to have two players on the same team, from the same class blessed with that sort of talent and that work ethic, made for an unbelievable experience,” he said.
Kleckner said, for him, the Thursday night clash between the Bruins and Sun Devils will be nearly unbearable to watch.
Though the coach is an ASU alum — he played basketball for the Sun Devils from 1982 to 1986 — Kleckner said there is no way he’ll be able to pick sides when the Pac-10 foes collide.
“I hate that game,” Kleckner said of the UCLA-ASU tilt. “My mom’s grandkids go to rival schools … when they play each other she won’t go, she can’t stand it. I kind of feel the same way.”
Kleckner was in attendance when the two teams met earlier this season at UCLA, an experience he said was “not really fun.”
“It was hard being in a position where you’re not even cheering for either team,” he said. “You’re just hoping those guys go out and play well.”
Despite the rivalry that turns their former coach’s stomach in knots, Pendergraph said he and Collison have remained friends since heading off to different colleges, but added that their relationship gets put on hold once their basketball paths get set to collide.
“Before the season and [during] the non-conference stuff we talk,” Pendergraph said. “But then when conference [play] comes, it kind of dies down a little bit because we both get into real serious mode.”
Since falling to ASU in overtime on Jan. 17, UCLA has been on a tear, winning five of its last six games.
Pendergraph said the Bruins’ resurgence is due to the will of his former teammate.
“Darren is really taking it personal right now to put their team back to where they’re supposed to be; where he’s taken them before.”
Reach the reporter at nkosmide@asu.edu.
