“When I got down here all I heard about was winning,” Betrand said. “As the season started you see all the banners just hanging up [in the gymnasium] every day. We’re just trying to follow suit and try to be on one of those championship teams.”

Norfolk State is off to a pretty good start with an 10-8 overall record which includes non-conference wins over VCU and Illinois State. Betrand, a 6-5, 200-pound graduate student, is averaging 11.3 points and 2.5 rebounds a game. He played for Towson, Rhode Island and Rider prior to coming to Norfolk State. A year ago, Norfolk State lost to Howard University in the MEAC title game. Betrand feels the Spartans preseason schedule should help them compete in the MEAC.

“With this team, we got a lot of pieces,” Betrand said. “We have a lot of people who can do a lot of things. Just playing good teams in the non-conference is going to help us in the long run.”

Norfolk State has a good Philadelphia and Catholic League connection. In addition to Betrand, former Neumann-Goretti star Christian Ings is a key member of the Spartans. Ings, a 6-2, 180-pound graduate student, averages 8.8 points and 1.8 rebounds a game.

“We push each other every day to get better,” Betrand said. “And playing with somebody from the same city as me with the same goal as me and locked in on winning.”

Betrand credits Roman Catholic for much of his success. The Cahillites have several basketball players competing on the Division I level such as Lynn Greer III and Xzayvier Brown (Saint Joseph’s) and Hakim Hart (Villanova).

“It’s the Roman tradition,” he said. “It carries us the whole career. Roman just builds your character early as a basketball player and a person.”