AZUSA PACIFIC

Caleb Gervin has Azusa Pacific on the ball going into a tournament game Thursday vs. Cal Baptist.

Caleb Gervin remembers a time when people called him Jesus Shuttleworth. Pushed by his father to become the best and uphold the family name, Gervin was a grade-school hoops prodigy in Palm Springs, and the comparison to Ray Allen's character in the Spike Lee movie "He Got Game" was appropriate in many ways.

Now Gervin, 22, the nephew of Pro Basketball Hall of Famer George "Iceman" Gervin, is the starting point guard for Azusa Pacific University and an NAIA all-America. He is reaping the rewards of a new-found maturity as the Cougars (25-5) prepare for post-season play after winning their 10th Golden State Athletic Conference championship in 11 years. They meet California Baptist University in the conference tournament Thursday night at Azusa Pacific.

The road from the courts of Palm Springs to a Christian school in Azusa has been littered with wrong turns and heartbreak, but the 6-foot-1 Gervin has found out sometimes a wrong turn can lead you in the right direction.

"I think coming from a basketball family with the last name Gervin, I was blessed with some natural abilities," he said.

Still, while the abilities were there from the cradle, it was his father's role as a basketball coach that started a sensation in the Palm Springs area. His memories of his younger days with his father remain sharp.

"I remember seeing myself as a kid, the passion I had for the game," he said. "I was always playing basketball, wanting to play the older guys."

And while Gervin's father left the family when Caleb was 10 and is rarely in contact with his son, Gervin's maturity shows when he speaks of his father.

"It's provided opportunities for me, definitely, and who's to say it will stop here?" Gervin said of his father's early influence. "I have to say I'm thankful and grateful for what he gave me then; he gave me the tools at a young age."

He further developed those tools at Cathedral City High School, where he was a three-time first team all-CIF state selection and three-time all-Desert Valley League MVP. He led Cat City to a CIF division championship game in his junior year and averaged 31.2 points and six rebounds his senior season. Those gaudy numbers led Gervin to choose basketball powerhouse Louisville over such schools as Florida State, Arizona State, Pepperdine and USC. The move to Kentucky, however, was turbulent at best and humbling at worst.

Turning point

Following a nondescript freshman season that saw him average 2.6 points in 20 games as a reserve, Gervin found out about the dangers of drugs first hand when on April 24, 2000, he was suspended for marijuana use. Gervin is philosophical about the transgression.

"I think we all go through things different that make us grow," Gervin said. "It's made me a more spiritual person. People have different struggles, I'm no different."

Faced with sitting out a year at Louisville, Gervin decided to transfer to Azusa Pacific.

"Caleb very much wants to be successful and he wants to be a good person," said Azusa Pacific coach Bill Odell, who has 330 victories at the university. "I think that's why the big-time environment of Louisville was probably not as conducive as the family atmosphere we have here."

Gervin has flourished at Azusa, averaging a career-high 19 points a game and shooting 57.4 percent from the field as the conference player of the year. He is among the school's all-time leaders in points, assists and three-pointers.

"I never played with a dominant player like him who can just take over a game," teammate Ryan Dillon said.

Help from Uncle George

Being the nephew of one of the NBA's Top 50 players of all time could be a source of pressure for, as Gervin describes himself "a young black man playing college basketball at a Christian university." But Gervin wears the name proudly and says he appreciates any help he gets from his Uncle George.

"I talk to him every now and again -- we have a pretty laid-back relationship," he said. "He's always there for me; he's a good guy to have on your side."

While Gervin could have swaggered onto the court at Azusa with a big-program attitude, he quickly made the decision that he was in the right place.

"I think I had a chip on my shoulder when I first got here," Gervin said. "I think coming from D1 I had it until I realized it's not where you play, it's how you handle the situation, how you handle yourself."

Growing up

Odell said he has been nothing but thrilled with Gervin, whom he calls one of the top three players in the school's history.

"That was one of the really mature things about Caleb -- the ability to go from a nationally known school to an NAIA program without any big-time attitude," said Odell, who spent time with Gervin in the offseason discussing basketball, spirituality and life.

"For all of us it's a journey, and he's on that journey like the rest of us and has been taking the right steps," Odell said.

Gervin said Odell's help has been vital in his growth as a player and as a man.

"He's been the greatest coach anyone could ask for. We had a lot of talks that got me thinking more on a man level," Gervin said. "He's prepared me a lot for what's to come in the future. He's a legend in himself, and I've been blessed to even say I'm a part of this."