Ferd Lewis: Rainbow Wahine recruit has sunny outlook in hoops, life

Not even the prospect of 13 more days locked down in a hotel room quarantine could dim Daryna Bachkarova’s enthusiasm Friday, the first morning she awoke in Honolulu as if still in a dream.

There was no panorama of the beach as there had been on her recruiting visit in December, but the view out her window “is still beautiful. I see mountains, beautiful trees, (everything) is just beautiful,” she said.

After better than a two-week odyssey to get here from her native Mogilev, Belarus, and all the stress and uncertainty that had surrounded it, the newest member of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine basketball team could finally exhale and exult.

Less than a month earlier, with a big decision to make, she had sat in her darkened home near the Russian border amid intermittent power failures as her country began to convulse in political upheaval.

Should she leave right away for the U.S., where there was paperwork still pending on her admittance to UH before the unrest closed the borders and her visa expired? Or, should she wait until she was sure she had a place to go?

Bachkarova signed a letter of intent with UH in April, but between the impact of COVID-19, a 12-hour time difference, translations and paperwork passed among several schools, the process dragged on.

“My heart was aching for her,” UH coach Laura Beeman said of their frequent Zoom sessions. Under NCAA rules, UH could offer support and understanding but no solid assurances until the formalities were completed.

Finally, Bachkarova decided to take the 11,243-mile leap of faith.

Beeman said, “She is an amazing young woman. She said, ‘Coach, I’m coming to New York. You and the team are my family now, too.’ ”

Bachkarova said, “If I’m not doing this right now, I might not get out now at all.” So, she said, “I took the risk and went to New York.”

It was a journey that would take her from Mogilev to the Belarusian capital of Minsk, then on to Istanbul. After a 21-hour wait at the airport in Turkey, there was a 17-hour trip to New York. And, then, two weeks of waiting in the Big Apple, shuttling between places to stay, until the transcripts of her classes in Belarus had been translated, certified and evaluated along with her Panola (Texas) Community College grades.

All the while the internet and phone connections with her family in Belarus were sporadic, sometimes down several days in a row as her concerns grew.

In New York she stayed with some acquaintances from Belarus for a time, but then, “I was moving from one place to another place. It was really hard,” Bachkarova said.

When Beeman gave Bachkarova word that she was cleared at UH, the coach said, “Her eyes were as big as malasadas.”

When Bachkarova reached her family, finally telling them she would be en route to Hawaii, she said, “They told me, ‘it was good that you left before the elections.’”

Belarus’ leader of 26 years, Alexander Lukasenko, described as “Europe’s last dictator,” claimed 80% of the vote this month in what has been widely viewed as a fraudulent election.

Since then demonstrations have filled the streets, security forces still known as the KGB have meted out beatings and rounded up political opponents and there are fears of impending Russian intervention. Strikes have paralyzed the small (9.5 million population), land-locked former Soviet republic wedged in amongst Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, where much of the industry is government-owned.

Studying (she is a history major) and playing basketball in the U.S. have long been Bachkarova’s aspirations. Someday visiting Hawaii was but a distant dream. The day that she was told UH was interested in recruiting her, Bachkarova said she told her JC coach, “Oh, Hawaii! Really?’ I was so surprised. (You mean) I can study and play basketball (there)?”

Bachkarova, a 6-foot guard, played on the Belarus under-16 and under-18 national teams. At Panola, she averaged 17 points a game last season and shot 39.4% from 3-point range.

How good is she? “Good enough that I stayed up for 10 hours one night trying to translate Russian,” Beeman said.

More than that, Beeman said, “She’s just a great young lady with a lot of charisma and love for the game. I’m sure she is aching to finish her quarantine and get out, meet her teammates and enjoy some of the freedom that we take for granted.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.