Published: March 18, 2008 11:30 pm         

The Americanization of Tarcin

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The images from the Bosnian war will never leave Ermin Tarcin. He is only glad he was too young to really understand what it all meant.

Tarcin, a 6-foot-8 junior who will be on the court at points today when MSU (30-2) opens NAIA national tournament play against Olivet Nazarene (17-14), is known as a tough player who isn’t afraid to be a dust-mop on the floor.

Diving into the stands to grab an errant pass or losing some skin going after a loose ball is nothing compared to what he has seen.

“I remember one time we had this window that looked out on the street,” Tarcin said. “It would be easy for a Serbian bomb to be launched right into that window, so we had cabinets and carpet up on the window. Well, one day we thought the war was finally coming to an end, so we moved the stuff.

“My mom worked in an open market, where vegetables and fruits were sold, right across the street. Well, they dropped a bomb right on the store. Sixty-seven people were killed. My first thought was to run down there. I knew it was about the time my mom would come home. I get to the door and she is standing there. I still remember them picking up heads and arms and putting them on trucks.”

Makes diving after a loose ball seem tame.

Tarcin has come a long way since arriving at MSU nearly three seasons ago.

The then-17-year-old Bosnian was recruited by Mersad Terzic, a fellow Bosnian who is currently serving as a graduate assistant coach.

The two met about 20 days prior to Terzic reporting back to MSU. He brought his young understudy along and Tarcin has become a valuable part to the MSU rotation.

Tarcin is averaging 5.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

More importantly, he can play both post positions. He played 27 minutes at both the four and five spots in the Cougars’ Independent Region championship win over Voorhees.

Tarcin had a game where he scored 17 points this year and he had a double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds) against Ohio State Marion.

That’s a far cry from when he first appeared, young and somewhat intimidated by the American style of play.

“It was much different then European basketball,” Tarcin said. “Over here there is more one-on-one type play, and players have more confidence to play a one-on-one game. Back home, it is more of a disciplined game. More fundamentals. It is impossible to see a young player who is not able to shoot left-handed and right-handed. If you are left-handed, they make you shoot with your right hand. You are taught early to shoot a left-handed hook shot and a right-handed hook shot.”

In Bosnia, Tarcin would never have dreamed of shooting a three-point shot.

“In a game, never,” he said.

At MSU, Tarcin is 18-of-43 from beyond the arc.

“He is a very valuable player,” MSU coach Bob Bolen said. “He can play both post positions. And he has been shooting the ball well late in the season. He is a high-energy player. He definitely likes to mix it up.”

He is a far cry from where he was two years ago.

“Ermin is a hard worker,” Bolen said. “He works hard at his game in the offseason and then he is so intelligent on the court. When you put those two elements together, you’re going to see a player improve with time.”

For Tarcin, playing the game is fun. He has seen a lot of seriousness already in his young life.

“I remember, I was about seven, and finding out my grandfather and uncle had been killed in the war,” Tarcin said. “When I got the news, it was more like shock. I don’t think I realized at the time that I would never see them again.”

He recalled how one time a rocket ripped through the apartment where they were sleeping and came within a few feet of where his mother slept.

“The next day we found it at the other end of the apartment building,” Tarcin said. “It was about 10 centimeters around. Just something that would rip through houses.”

Tarcin said learning English was the hard part of the equation. A lot of what he learned he picked up from teammates and television. Terzic helped by making the youngster fend for himself in several situations.

These days, English comes easy.

“I was told when you have a dream in English, it means you are thinking in English,” Tarcin said. “That happened for me my second year. Now, when I go home, sometimes I will be talking to my mother and I say something in Bosnian and then I come to a word and I say, ‘But.’ Or if I step on somebody’s foot, I will say, ‘Excuse me.’ They always look at me kind of strange.”

Tarcin even got a U.S. driver’s license last year, thanks to the help of assistant coach Dave Barksdale, who bravely let the youngster practice in his car.

“Coach didn’t know that the last time I drove my father’s car I broke it,” Tarcin said. “I thought I was going forward, it was in reverse and I stepped on the gas. I hit a table and broke his car.”

That’s why he hit the brakes — hard — and nearly threw the assistant coach into the dashboard.

But hey, he passed his test a few weeks later.

“My parents can’t believe I have a license,” Tarcin said. “Back home, you have to take a class for six weeks. And it costs $50 or $60.”

The price he pays on the court is also a small one to the price some of his family has paid.

“I remember seeing my grandmother, her arm was all messed up by (the war),” he said. “I remember she had something on her arm, holding the bones together.”

Somehow, Tarcin knows, a few floor burns seem to pale in comparison.