“Just play your best,” Israeli basketball star Mickey Berkowitz told his son Niv, 18, just a few weeks ago, as he prepared to return to the family’s home in Ramat Hasharon after he and his wife, Shelly, dropped off their son at Marquette University.
Niv will be attending the university and playing for the Golden Eagles basketball team for the next four years.
Being the son of the greatest Israeli basketball player of all time would seem to put anyone under a great deal of pressure. But when asked about that, Niv replied, “I am not a guy that feels pressure. I am myself and he is my father.”
Niv’s demeanor is so cool that he says former team members and coaches “call me ‘the ice man.’”
At the same time, he also aspires to be just like his father, who during his 17 seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv won 17 Israeli championships, 13 Israeli State Cups and two European Cup Championships.
Niv, a 6-foot-3-inch point guard, says he’s adjusting well so far to life in Milwaukee, but he knows that it is going to be difficult for him “without the family. We’re very close.” He has two older siblings: brother Roye, who plays basketball in Ramat Hasharon, and sister Adi.
He is already looking forward to February, when his family will return to Milwaukee to watch him in games against Louisville and DePaul universities.
“It’s hard to come into the middle of the year” at MU, he said. Moreover, he has to “adjust to a new system” of playing and coaching, including twice a day rigorous practices that are “very hard and intense.”
“The coaches are talking to me all the time,” said Niv, in order to help him adjust. “It’s not the same game style” as in Israel. “It will take time,” he said.
Niv says that a major difference for him has been in the way he is used to practicing, which at Marquette is more focused on “lifting [weights], getting stronger,” while in Israel it was more skill-based, “and we have time to rest,” he said.
Niv played on Israel’s FIBA U18 European Championship team as well as in the National Youth League for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He deferred his service in Israel’s army to attend college and play basketball in the U.S.
He originally was looking at attending universities such as De Paul, Georgetown and Rutgers. Then he received a call from Eagles assistant coach Jeff Strohm, who told him “not to pick a college yet,” Niv said.
Strohm flew to Israel, where he “showed me how professional the team is” and “convinced us that Marquette was the best,” Niv said.
Even after being in Milwaukee for only a short time, he added, “it’s like a big family here. The coaches will do everything for their players.” Niv shares his dorm with fellow team member Ryan Amoroso, and the two are already “best friends.”
The Jewish community also has been “very warm.” Among other things, Lubavitch Rabbi Shais Taub paid a visit, providing Niv with a mezuzah to place on his dorm room door.
Community members have “taken me for dinners and come to my games,” Niv said. He received a standing ovation during his debut game on Dec. 21, and several audience members displayed large Israeli flags during the game to celebrate his arrival.
Niv welcomes the support. Community members “are calling me, they are emailing me.
They can call whenever they want. It’s OK by me.”
Though his major is yet to be decided, Niv is interested in both “computers and business.” When he has completed his degree, he will probably return to Israel to fulfill his army requirement, unless he receives “a contract with a team.”
“For every player,” he said, “it is a dream to play in the NBA.” Even so, Niv also “wants to really play, not to sit on the bench” with Maccabi Tel Aviv. “Because of my father, that is my dream.”
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