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The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
As Enel St. Bernard departs, he says Sycamores stuck together
- Story byThe Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
- As Enel St. Bernard departs, he says Sycamores stuck together
Enel St. Bernard considered multiple factors in his decision to become part of a mass exodus of men's basketball players from the Indiana State program in this offseason.
St. Bernard made that decision himself, he said Monday. The factors he considered was his family, as well as his personal manager. St. Bernard said it shouldn't be too long until he announces his next stop.
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St. Bernard, a 6-foot-6 Harford Village, Grenada native, was a junior last season. He averaged 5.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
He said the one of the lessons he learned during his time at ISU was how much hard work translates to being good.
"I think [hard work is] one of the things that our coaches this year preached, and I tried to embody it as much as I could, all throughout the season," St. Bernard said. "I believe it showed in my play, and the coaches were pretty satisfied with that aspect of it."
He said even when he wasn't doing things on-court that show up on the statistics sheet, playing hard and showing energy helps the team.
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St. Bernard also refuted speculation about internal issues, and said he's had a good connection with the coaching staff.
"I can't speak for everyone, obviously, but I don't think there was any malice between anybody," St. Bernard said. "Obviously there's tough coaching. I think guys might take certain coaching differently, but I think for the most part, it was fair coming from both sides."
While he was only at ISU for the 2025-26 season, St. Bernard said he'll take great memories with him. That includes his first set of home games and playing in front of the fans in Hulman Center.
"That was pretty amazing," St. Bernard said.
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He also mentioned the win over Illinois State back on Jan. 14, when the Sycamores took down the Redbirds 94-89.
"That was a pretty good one, as well," St. Bernard said.
St. Bernard touched said the team stuck together and players didn't point fingers throughout the season. It was a connected group, he said.
"It's just sad that we weren't able to win as much as we should have," St. Bernard said. "We could [use] hindsight and point the finger at anything specific, but I think it's just everything didn't come together when it should've, I believe. But those are probably like the better memories I'll take from it, just the home crowd to be honest."
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St. Bernard had some big performances, such as his dunk-fest at Evansville, where ISU won 84-63 on Feb. 3.
"It's a testament of who I tried to present myself as," St. Bernard said. "I don't know if it's out yet, but the day before that game, I dislocated my left shoulder. So I had to play that game with my shoulder like pretty much freshly dislocated the day before. I just thought it was [an] opportunity for us to win."
He said if the Sycamores had lost that Evansville game, the morale would've been too low going into the next game against Murray State and eventually into the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at St. Louis. St. Bernard explained his mindset was just to go out there, play as hard as he could, scream as much as he could, play hard and get a win.
"I think as soon as the team realized I came out with that energy, even though the day before I dislocated my shoulder, I think everybody fed off of that. And we had a performance that I think we should have had in pretty much every game that we had this year," St. Bernard said.
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St. Bernard said he appreciates everything the coaches, staff, university president and athletic director did.
"I think they really tried their best with the team this year," St. Bernard said. "They never shunned their support. They've always been able to show us that they were here first, and the fans as well too."
He thanked the fans for turning out every game at Hulman Center.
"Even when we were on bad stretches, they always showed their support, and were always there to stand and lift us up," St. Bernard said.
