Beard Overcomes Obstacles Without Sacrificing Future

RESEDA —  Most high school basketball teams have a go-to guy, a player teammates depend on in crunch time.

At Reseda High, where a down-trodden boys’ program is on the mend, it’s Nashid Beard.

At 6 feet 8 and 190 pounds, the athletic center will undoubtedly be the heart and soul of the Regents.

“He’s starting to emerge as a leader,” Coach Malcolm Norrington said. “On the court, he’s starting to demand the ball.”

Few of the region’s top players have hurdled more obstacles than Beard.

A senior-to-be with nearly four years of high school behind him, Beard has already endured more drama in his 17 years than most athletes do in a lifetime.

He survived surgery to repair a valve in his heart and has an 18-inch scar around half his torso.

He overcame the understandable reluctance and anguish of a cross-country move in his teens.

He held his breath for months while the City Section’s Interscholastic Athletic Committee decided his fate as a high school athlete.

But life has never looked more promising for Beard, who is among hundreds of athletes playing in the War on the Floor tournament today through Wednesday at Taft and Canoga Park highs.

Recently granted another basketball season of eligibility by the IAC, Beard is embarking on a campaign to prove himself more than a good rebounder and shot-blocker.

Last season, Beard averaged 8.9 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and about eight points.

He has improved considerably since February, when Reseda finished 6-18 in its first season under Norrington.

“Since he’s been involved with basketball outside of Reseda, I think he’s developed a real love of the game,” Norrington said.

Beard began playing in the spring for Rockfish, an elite traveling team, but basketball has not always been his first love.

He grew up in Rochester, N.Y., playing football and fancied himself a dominating defensive end.

But the summer before his freshman year, Beard had a four-inch growth spurt that stretched his skinny frame to 6-4.

“He started to get taller and taller and taller and [football opponents] started to take his legs out,” said James Beard, Nashid’s father.

So Beard took up basketball.

But during his freshman basketball season in New York, Beard suffered several fainting spells.

A doctor determined that the 14-year-old had a heart murmur. More specifically, Beard suffered from an abnormal opening between the pulmonary artery and the aorta, which was surgically closed.

“I was scared, but I’m happy they did it,” Nashid Beard said.

James Beard said his only son handled the surgery with uncommon maturity.

“He said if that’s what has to be done, then let’s do it,” James Beard said. “I think I was more afraid than he was.”

Within a month of the surgery, Beard was back on the court.

A few months later, his stepmother got a new job, so Beard moved to Van Nuys with his father and stepmother. He was forced to repeat the ninth grade because of time missed and deficient credits.

After a year of bitterness following the family’s move, Beard settled into his new neighborhood when he threw himself into basketball.

“There are more [college coaches] who see you [in Los Angeles],” Beard said.

Norrington said Beard is getting plenty of interest and would be an asset on the Division I level.

“In college, with his size and the way he shoots, he’ll be a nice [small forward],” Norrington said.