PROVO — Ever since his formative basketball days as a child in Brazil, where he developed a fascination for the game reading about and watching NBA icon Michael Jordan, Jonathan Tavernari has dreamed of being the star of his own basketball show.
That's the main reason he moved to the United States as a high school junior.
"I always wanted to be the big man on campus," Tavernari said.
This revelation likely comes as no surprise to those who have watched him play in America the past five years — first at Timpview High, then Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas and the past three seasons at BYU. Fans have mixed feelings about his quick-trigger shooting, and his flashy style on and off the court. The guy, as BYU coach Dave Rose has said, is a very "public" person.
This season, however, Tavernari says fans are going to see a more tamed version from the traditionally showy Cougar senior. From last season's NCAA Tournament disappointment, his offseason experience playing with the Brazilian National team, and his recent marriage to the former Kiri Redford, Tavernari says he has a new outlook on basketball and what he hopes to glean from the game.
"I'm still a pretty confident guy, but I think the main thing that has changed about me is my attitude," he said.
Rose said he's already noticed a difference.
"When we're talking about the Jonathan Tavernari that was in my office three weeks ago, and the Jonathan Tavernari that was in my office three years ago, we're talking about a student athlete that has come a long, long ways as far as maturity and knowing how to handle his challenges," Rose said.
Days after the Cougars lost to Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March, Tavernari, 20 pounds heavier then and distracted by some personal issues, blamed himself a lot for how the Cougars played that day.
"I was a little mad at myself. I was a little bitter," he said.
This past summer, Brazilian squad teammate and Phoenix Sun Leandro Barbosa noticed a little too much negativity in Tavernari's game.
"He said 'man, you need to smile more. You need to quit getting so mad when you miss a shot. You need to have more fun'," Tavernari said.
The final piece in Tavernari's change-in-attitude puzzle was his marriage. Kiri gives him a refreshing, and almost therapeutic, perspective on what role basketball should play in his life and where it should take him.
"He's got a great wife, and he was really lucky there, and I think that she'll really be able to help him find the things that he wants to find," Rose said.
With Barbosa's advice imbedded firmly in his game plan, and his wife's calming support at his side, Tavernari returned to BYU this fall vowing to set his personal basketball goals aside, be more committed to Rose and his teammates, and mostly with a promise to enjoy his senior-season ride.
"The main thing I had to understand is that I'm not entitled to anything. Just because I'm a senior or a team leader or the most experienced guy on the team, that doesn't mean I'm entitled to anything. That doesn't mean the last shot has to come out of my hand. That doesn't mean that I have to be the top scorer. That doesn't mean that I have to be the go-to guy. I kind of felt I needed to take a step down and humble myself a little bit and be willing to do whatever is best for the team," he said. "Things like me going pro or me making money playing basketball, those things will take care of themselves."
Rose hopes Tavernari's new attitude won't affect his passion for the game or his "free-spirited" style. Only that his confidence in his teammates will equal his confidence in himself.
"He has a lot of confidence in his own ability to get things done, but he's a great team guy. Anyone who leads a team in rebounding (which Tavernari did last year) has to have a great determination to help the team. I've said this many times before, but he's on course to do something that no player has ever done here, and that's to win a conference championship all four years. It's not by accident. He has a great feel for the game," Rose said.
Still, Tavernari's expectations are high. He'll be disappointed if the Cougars don't get that fourth-straight conference championship, and a MWC Tournament championship, a top-25 ranking and finally end that NCAA Tournament jinx.
"We're going to do some things here that have never been done before, I can just taste it. We have that good of a team. When we put all of these pieces together, we can be so dangerous and we can be so explosive."
So what's his ultimate long-term hope?
"I really want to come back and want to work for BYU. I want to be a part of BYU. That's my main goal."
e-mail: jimr@desnews.com