Collison Quick, to the Point

John Wooden said “be quick but don’t hurry” long before Darren Collison was born, but the phrase fits UCLA’s freshman point guard to a “T” -- as in track.

The conundrum, though: How do you persuade the son of sprinters to bide time?

Your instincts say run, get out, get off the blocks. Wait for the starter’s gun in Rancho Cucamonga and then do what mom and dad did at New York’s Adelphi University -- make a bee line for the finish tape.

Ready, set, gone.

There were dozens of places Collison could have sprinted and become a starter. He was that good coming out of Etiwanda High. He might have led San Diego State in minutes played this season or set rookie records at any number of Little (Field) Houses on the Prairie.

Collison chose UCLA, a school that already had a point guard.

Not just a point guard, but Jordan Farmar, one with Mt. Baldy upside and three years of eligibility left.

Collison’s parents, the clear-thinking mature ones, sat their son down.

“We cautioned him,” his mother, June, said Monday. “We said you got to get real here. Jordan is there. Jordan is not going any place right now. He said it was fine with him.”

What to do with the incorrigible youth?

The Collisons let their only son work it out on his own and spent last weekend screaming their larynxes out as UCLA swept through the Oakland Regional on its way to its first Final Four berth in 11 years.

Collison didn’t start either game but served in his usual role as Energizer Bunny off the bench. He played 20 minutes against Gonzaga and 19 against Memphis. He averages 5.6 points a game and 6.3 annoyances.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland paid high praise when he said of Collison, “I think he can be Tyus Edney in time.”

Time ... it’s the one thing most young basketball whiz-kids don’t have.

Collison, though, who won’t turn 19 until August, seems to have an uncommon grasp of the overall picture.

“It was hard,” Collison said of his decision to come to UCLA in exchange for guaranteed pine time. “So many schools were saying you can come here and be the starting point guard and the program is going to be built around you. Then you look at UCLA. You’re not going to be the man, you’re not going to get too many minutes.... I surprised a lot of people. They said, ‘Why are you going to UCLA?’ ”

Why?

Collison looked around the locker room at the Arena in Oakland. It was the day after UCLA rallied from 17 behind to defeat Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament.

It was a pretty good game.

His warmup had “UCLA” emblazoned on it.

A year ago at this time, after leading Etiwanda to the Southern Section Division I-AA championship, Collison watched the tournament at home as millions of other high school seniors did.

San Diego State, the other school Collison was considering in the end, made it to the tournament this year but was a first-round loser to Indiana.

“They had a good run,” Collison said of the Aztecs. “But UCLA’s had a better run.

“Sitting in the back seat, being a freshman, it’s not like I’m not playing. I’m playing minutes, and absorbing all this ... and getting ready for my turn. I wouldn’t take nothing back.”

Collison has had his out-front moments. His 15 points led the Bruins in their Pacific 10 Conference tournament semifinal win against Arizona at Staples Center.

More important, he knows where he’s going and doesn’t seem in a rush to get there.

June, by the way, said she was OK with Darren not wanting to pursue a track career but that it “extremely disappointed” his father, Dennis.

“At times Dennis forced him to do it,” June said. “He just didn’t have any interest. None.”

She says of Darren, “He would have been very good. A world-class athlete. I think he would have been a quarter-miler.”

Darren said two track stars in one family were enough.

“I didn’t touch it,” he said. “My parents did so much in that sport, I’m just going to leave that to them and focus on my own sport. I chose basketball.”

June Griffith and Dennis Collison, both from Guyana, ran track at Adelphi. Dennis was a 200-meter specialist with a personal best of 20.3 seconds and June was once ranked 10th in the world in the 400 meters and won a silver medal at the Pan American Games. She competed for Guyana at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and so fell in love with the climate she and Dennis, who met in college and married, moved to Southern California in 1985.

June got work as a junior accountant and is now chief executive at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. The ebullient June said her oversight responsibilities include, “if you come into the hospital to get your right leg amputated they don’t cut off your left leg.”

Dennis is a probation investigator.

Darren was born in 1987 and came of age in Rancho Cucamonga -- that old Jack Benny gag line.

Though he never warmed up to track he said it was a bonus having track-star parents.

“Track and basketball are kind of similar because you need speed and quickness,” the 6-foot Collison said. “They taught me how to use it. And as a point guard you need to know when to use it and not to use it. They help me prepare for games, tell me how to eat right. All the things they did for track.”

Darren has taught his parents patience.

Going to UCLA was not going to be easy.

Howland is demanding of players, especially on defense, and he runs a clock-control offense -- not exactly a billboard advertisement for dart-quick point guards.

Collison somehow looked beyond his freshman orientation.

He chose tradition over temptation and, just like at that famous candy store, he took a number.

“I’m just going to wait for my turn,” he said. “Sooner or later I’m going to be in the spotlight at UCLA. Nobody wants to wait their turn, but sometimes you’ve got to do things for yourself. Do what’s best for you....

“You get the recognition by playing in the tournament ... and winning. And this is a winning school. So, when it’s all said and done, when I leave here, I’m going to be known as a point guard.”

He already is known.

Celebrating Saturday’s win over Memphis at an Oakland restaurant, June and Dennis were approached by a UCLA fan.

June said the fan looked her in the eye and said, “You need to have another baby. We need another Bruin.”

June’s response:

“I can promise you one thing,” she said she told the guy. “That won’t happen.”

Seems she has already been around that track.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Men’s Final Four

Saturday’s games; times are Pacific and approximate; all games televised on Channel 2:

AT RCA DOME, INDIANAPOLIS

GAME 1

George Mason (27-7) vs.

Florida (31-6), 3:07 p.m.

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GAME 2

Louisiana State (27-8) vs.

UCLA (31-6), 5:47 p.m.

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CHAMPIONSHIP

Monday, 6 p.m., Channel 2

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MOST FINAL FOURS

*--* Team FF Titles UCLA 16 11 North Carolina 16 4 Duke 14 3 Kentucky 13 7 Kansas 12 2 Ohio State 9 1 Indiana 8 5 Louisville 8 2 Arkansas 6 1 Cincinnati 6 2 Oklahoma St. 6 2 Michigan St. 6 2

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