Lone Bartlesville Bruin senior elevates hoops, golf programs
Nash Zervas was Bartlesville High School’s lone senior basketball player this year.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
March 19, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
“I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
— Edward Everett Hale
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A scrappy Bartlesville High School senior athlete understands what it’s like to be the One.
The Only One.
Nash Zervas — whose playing style beggars adjectives such as “gritty,” “talented," “focused” “giant-hearted”— played as the Lone Senior on this year’s Bruin basketball team.
He’s wearing that same role on this spring’s boys’ golf team.
Zervas’ commitment to the basketball team is rooted in unselfish character and commitment to his teammates. There was no great glory in being on this year’s basketball team — this past season the Bruins won only three games, and one of those against a junior varsity team. In fact, during his two years on varsity, Zervas experienced only six victories.
But still he battled and helped the Bruins be better than they would have been — and more importantly provided a bridge for the younger players to cross the stream of adversity from growing pains to chemistry.
Following were some of his highlights to boost the team’s efforts:
— 17 points (5 3-pointers) in a 51-50 loss to Jenks.
— 14 points in a 38-35 win against Ponca City in the Bruin home tournament.
— 11 first-half points against Sapulpa and 16 (4 3-pointers) for the game in a 52-50 loss to Sapulpa.
— Double-digit points — as well as key assists and ball-handling — in numerous other games.
Bartlesville High School senior Nash Zervas goes for a steal during Bruins’ basketball action this year.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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Next up, Zervas is on the doorstep of the Bruin golf season. He didn’t start playing competitive school varsity golf until last season and is still developing his upside.
To put it simply, Zervas is a kid of high character whose will to compete and contribute far outshines the glow of winning.
“He’s an incredible kid, and an incredible teammate,” Bruin head basketball coach Tommy DeSalme said about the 5-foot-9 guard with the emotional toughness of rhino hide. “Personally I wish he was younger. … I think he had the ability to be a really, really good ball player. … He has a lot of game.”
As it was, Zervas led the Bruins — who absorbed a battering of lumps and growing pains during the ultimate definition of a rebuilding year — in scoring and provided the element of hard-nosed leadership.
Leadership was a precious commodity for the Bruins, who regularly played at least nine freshmen per game and who used 12 or 13 players in their main rotation.
DeSalme counted heavily on Zervas — as the only senior and most experienced varsity player — to provide a psychic glue to hold the team together.
Despite understanding there would be little success or glory, Zervas never wavered in his dedication through the grueling off-season preparation after coach DeSalme became head coach in the spring of 2024.
“I love basketball,” Zervas said. “I didn’t want to quit my senior year. … It’s definitely tough when you get down quite a bit. But Coach DeSalme taught us we could play hard no matter what. Coach DeSalme did a great job in making sure we played our hardest.”
Not that Zervas required much external motivation to give his all.
“He’s a strong man and a devoted follower of Christ,” said his father Chris Zervas — a former Bartlesville College High School student-athlete. “He’s a devoted follower of Christ and that shines in him. … He’s always been a really good athlete.”
More than that, Zervas filled with resplendent resolve in his role to act as mentor for the large number of pups in the Bruins’ stable.
“I think probably the biggest highlight of the season for me as a parent — and it certainly speaks of Nash’s character — is that I can’t tell you how many parents of younger players came to me and said Nash was a huge help to their son. … That they said he really encouraged their son.”
As mentioned, Zervas endured a campaign of hard lumps — although it began on a high note with a rousing win against Ponca City. The Bruins would go on to beat Ponca City again and a jayvee team for their only other victories.
But, in the final month of the season, DeSalme’s ardent encouragement and non-stop impassioned individualized approach to coaching — and Zervas’ leadership — bore competitive fruit.
Bruins senior Nash Zervas fights for the ball during a Bartlesville High School home game.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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During February the Bruins lost four games by a total of eight points! These results included:
— Sapulpa 52, Bartlesville 50
— Northwest Classen 55, Bartlesville 51
— Jenks 51, Bartlesville 50
— Ponca City 42, Bartlesville 41
“I think we got everybody involved,” said DeSalme. “The boys got a better clue of what’s expected on a daily basis. … Because of our young players we were seven or eight months behind everybody when the season started.”
Many Bruins — probably each player up and down the entire 12-to-13 man rotation — matured in talent and composure along the journey. Zervas provided a needed steady, mature presence in his output, commitment and poise.
“He (Zervas) left his mark with a bunch of young kids with how hard he worked every day,” DeSalme said. “He stuck it out. He’ll be better off for sticking it out. … He didn’t miss one practice. He was never late and those things qualify as a winning person.”
In addition to making the most of his own opportunities as a senior, Zervas felt motivated by family history.
His father Chris played tennis for College High and went on to compete for a couple of years at the University of Oklahoma.
Zervas’ mom Jenna was an elite-caliber diver at the University of Arkansas and nurtured aspirations to dive in the Olympics — a quest sadly detoured due to an injury.
“She knows what it’s like to compete at a high level,” Chris Zervas said. “She has been a great encouragement to Nash and challenging him to give every effort. … He’s got a fantastic mom.”
Chris said he also felt Nash’s unique position as the only senior on the boys’ basketball team and next on the boys’ golf team has helped his son gain more maturity as a result of his expanded roles.
Although he’s uncertain about whether he’ll try to play college basketball, Zervas is looking forward to the change-up this spring to competitive golf.
“I started playing my freshman year just for fun,” he explained. “Last year I joined the golf team and I loved it. I’ve gotten a lot better in my short game.”
“I think Nash could be a really, really good golfer,” Chris said.
Chris recalled when Zervas shot 100-plus in an early tournament last year and dropped 20 strokes off his score by the end, shooting a 42.
“He’ll get better than that,” Chris added.
A major aspect of Zervas’ blossoming as an athlete and individual has been rooted in location, location, location.
The Zervas' family made a conscious decision to raise their children in Bartlesville, which Chris compared to "a lot like Mayberry," referring to the idyllic town in "The Andy Griffith Show."
"It's safe, it's delightful, the people are wonderful, the pace is wonderful, I'm thrilled to have my children here," he added. "There is an emphasis on hard work, perseverance and resilience."
It starts in the home.
Nash said his parents "have been huge in my athletic career. I don't think I'd be as nearly successful in sports. They've always pushed me to work hard and to be the best I can be."
Even though he will likely be buried in his college studies the next few years, Zervas’ impact on Bruin basketball still will be felt.
"I would hope they would say that I made everyone around me better," Zervas said about how he hopes his teammates will remember him. "I would hope they would say I helped them to be better as players. I used to not be very confident when I was young. I want the younger guys to be confident. ... Coach DeSalme taught us how to really fight for this team. I'm super thankful to be a Bruin."
"The only way we're going to change it up here in Bartlesville is that our natural competitiveness has to get better," DeSalme said. "We've got to get individually tougher and more competitive. ... It's about not letting things happen and not being okay to lose. ... If we as individuals don't get better there's no chance we'll get better as a team."
Zervas helped set that tone in his final hurrah during one of the toughest seasons in Bruin basketball.
"What a great kid he is," DeSalme said. "I appreciate what he had to go through and what it means for our program."
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“I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
— Edward Everett Hale