Berna was a four-year letter winner in both football and basketball and  three in track at Saint Edward High School.  He was an All-Northeast Catholic Conference halfback and co-captain of the school’s first championship eleven in 1948.  He was also co-captain and an all-conference guard on the title-winning 1948-49 cage team.

As a Beloit College sophomore, Don was a member of the basketball team that won 40 straight games and competed in the 1951 National Invitational Tournament in Madison Square Garden. In his junior year at Beloit he was a halfback on the team that compiled the best record in the school’s history.