He attended John F. Kennedy High School as a sophomore, lived with his family in Maple Valley, Wash., southeast of Seattle, and played a lot of soccer. He could not have known that just months away he would be playing in Ireland with U.S. Soccer's U-17 national team or living in Bradenton, Fla.
And he never would have guessed that he would be signing autographs in Salt Lake City, having been selected as the No. 1 pick in Major League Soccer's SuperDraft. To say he was overwhelmed with a pen and a cramp in his hand when RSL introduced him locally on Saturday would be an understatement.
"Ever since I found out there was a professional league, my goal was to play on it," Besagno said. His road to MLS, he thought, would be much longer.
"I thought for sure I was going to college, but it all changed so fast," Besagno said.
Besagno was noticed while playing for a regional Olympic Development Program team in Costa Rica. The assistant coach to the U-17 national team, John Hackworth, saw his talent and passed the word on to U-17 head coach John Ellinger.
Then, two days after Easter, he got a call from Hackworth: the U-17 residency training program wanted him to play in Ireland, and wanted him to move to Bradenton.
"It's been a huge, huge change," Besagno said.
But that was just the first step. By November, Besagno was invited to play on the U-20 team, and even got to start at center back against Mexico. Not long after he learned Ellinger, now RSL's head coach, wanted to make him the No. 1 pick in the SuperDraft.
"[Ellinger] definitely made this possible," Besagno said. "He hooked me up with MLS, and I owe a lot to him. And, it's good to be back with him."
Besagno's mother, Barbara, knows what a rare position her son is in.
"This is a wonderful opportunity, a chance of a lifetime," Barbara said. "Not all kids have that opportunity to move up so fast."
Still, even with all the attention Besagno has been given of late, she can hardly see a change in him.
"He's still Nik when he comes home," Barbara said. Perhaps that is because he is just doing what he always wanted to do.
"Nik has had the passion since he was old enough to kick a ball," Barbara said. "He always had a ball at his foot."
It was the latest generation of Besagnos that made them a soccer family. Shortly after moving to Maple Valley, father John enrolled his oldest son Jacob (then 5 years old) in soccer. And somehow, all the rest of the kids followed suit.
"I had the advantage of having two older siblings to help me play," Nik said. Jacob, 21, and sister Tessa, 19, play for the University of Seattle. Jacob helped his team win the Div. II national championship, and his younger sister Julia, 12, looks to be another rising star.
"I never really played another sport," Nik said. He may fit in well in Utah, having a little experience with snowboarding, but that sport really is a distant second.
"Really, all I do is play soccer," Nik said.
RSL will sign its first Utah native to a developmental player contract on Monday. Logan's Sergio Flores, 19, who has been playing on a reserve team in a professional Argentina league, will join Besagno and the team's three other draftees on the development team. "I always wanted to come to the league, but it's even greater that it's in my home state," Flores said.
l The team will release its complete list of local players invited to Saturday's tryout at Brigham Young on Monday. Some of the names on the list include Utah Blitzz players Byron Carmichael and Jorge Estrada, and Salt Ratz players Adam Acosta, K.C. Nordfors and George Grygar. In addition, several players that were passed over in Friday's SuperDraft may be invited.
