NAMPA, Idaho – Jayden Bezzant may be more than 7,000 miles from home, but thanks to a tattoo on his shoulder he never has to look far to be reminded of family.
Bezzant, a native of New Zealand, has a large tattoo on the back of his right shoulder that is a tradition of the Maori people.
"It represents my closest family – my sisters, mom and dad, grandparents and great grandparents are all in it and where I'm from," he said. "Parts of the tattoo represent the river where I lived and the mountains where I lived. Everything represents me up to now – even some of me traveling the world a bit."
While Bezzant hasn't had it updated since coming to Idaho three years ago, the Northwest Nazarene junior men's basketball player plans to eventually.
"It is something I always wanted to get," he said. "It is definitely personal to me. It reminds me of home and of my family – I'll always have them type deal. It is super unique. I don't think I've seen anyone with one like it."
In the Maori tradition, the tattoos expand over time and eventually cover your face. Bezzant isn't too sure about that aspect, though he has added other smaller tattoos elsewhere on his body.
He has a plane to represent all of the travel he's done, a palm tree because he's a beach kid at heart, a diamond and a few other small ones.
Bezzant came to Nampa without ever having visited the campus. He redshirted one year at Rio Grande Valley State in Edinburgh, Texas, an NCAA Division I school but found himself out of a spot when there was a coaching change.
Then-NNU coach Scott Flemming found about the guard through contacts from his NBA D League days.
Bezzant looked the school up online and thought it looked nice, so he came.
He has started since Day 1, mainly as a shooting guard though he grew up playing point guard.
Recently, though, he has come off the bench. A role that benefits the Nighthawks by adding a pure scorer to the second unit.
It took an act of God, though, to create the opportunity for Bezzant's role to change.
Over the Christmas break he flew to Texas to spend time with some friends from New Zealand. On the way home, bad weather in Texas caused his flight to get canceled. He was stuck in the Dallas area for multiple days, missing three practices.
With only four practices scheduled before the first game back, the coaching staff chose to bring Bezzant off the bench. And it's now a role that looks permanent.
"We had talked about balancing our starting lineup but I hadn't talked to Jayden about it," NNU coach Paul Rush said. "He always told me he doesn't care about minutes or starting. He is a good teammate that way."
The role change for Bezzant makes it so Jalen Burkett can move into the starting lineup and be a defensive stopper for the first unit.
"He honestly is the perfect guy for the situation," senior Obi Megwa said. "He has every reason to complain about starting and whatnot, but he has accepted it. He doesn't care about who gets the limelight, and focuses on what the team needs. He's been a big help for us off the bench so far."
It's only been two games, but Bezzant has had his two best scoring performances of the season. He had 24 in a 90-87 victory against Central Washington and 17 in a 94-79 win against Montana State Billings.
The Nighthawks (8-2 overall, 3-1 GNAC) are off to their best start since 2007-08 and are tied for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
"It's always great to win, but I think along with that we get too high at times," he said. "We need to celebrate our wins and then lock in the next day, stay focused. We've got to stay humble."
If the Nighthawks do that, then a trip to the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade could be in the offing.
And that could make a good story for Bezzant's tattoo.
