SDSU Final Stop on Jamison’s U.S. Tour

When it comes to the basketball career of San Diego State forward Shawn Jamison, forget about Street & Smith’s. Break out the Rand McNally.

Can’t tell the colleges without a road map.

Start in his hometown of Cerritos, draw a line to Casper (Wyo.) Community College, another to Pratt (Kan.) Community College and finish by connecting a dot atop Montezuma Mesa, site of SDSU and Jamison’s latest basketball stop.

But unlike those earlier stops, Jamison says he feels at home at SDSU.

“It’s good to be back in Southern California where my family and friends are,” he said. “I missed them.”

The familiar surroundings and pleasant climate have agreed with Jamison’s game as well. He is leading the Aztecs in scoring (15.2 points per game) and is tied with center Marty Dow in rebounding (5.8) in helping the Aztecs (10-7, 2-2) to their best start in five seasons. But he has made his greatest impression with an array of rim-rattling dunks.

His repertoire includes driving baseline slams, breakaway reverse dunks and alley-oop jams. All designed to enjoy, excite and entertain.

“The dunks are what gets me pumped up, gets the crowd pumped up and gets the team going,” Jamison said.

His next display of above-the-rim skills will come at 7:30 Thursday night when the Aztecs play host to New Mexico (9-7, 1-3) in a Western Athletic Conference game at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Those in attendance are expected to include his mother, Edna, and his father, Hardy. They have become regulars at Aztec home games, making the drive down from their respective homes in Diamond Bar and Rancho Cucamonga. After spending the past two seasons far away from his family, Jamison welcomes the support.

“It’s nice to look up in the stands and know they are there,” he said.

Although Jamison missed his family and friends, he said it was best that he left Southern California after high school. Jamison said he was somewhat of a discipline problem and did not take his schoolwork seriously. Those troubles led to a transfer to Gahr High School for his junior year after spending his first two years at cross-town rival Cerritos.

By then his academic record was so deficient, Jamison said, he could not meet NCAA Proposition 48 eligibility requirements and had to enroll at a community college. The question was where.

“I was always getting into trouble at school,” Jamison said, “so I figured it would be better if I got away from home.”

Thus began an odyssey that would take Jamison to community colleges in Casper, Wyo., and Pratt, Kan., before he landed at SDSU.

“There was nothing else to do at those places but study and play basketball,” Jamison said. “That is what I needed.”

Along the way he acquired a best friend, teammate Michael Hudson. Wherever Jamison went, Hudson, a former AAU teammate from Washington High School in Los Angeles, was soon to follow. It is a friendship built on trust. What else would explain Hudson blindly following Jamison to Casper and Pratt without a recruiting visit?

“He is like a brother to me,” Jamison said. “When I need picking up, he picks me up. It’s great having him around.”

That was true last spring, when a good part of the college basketball world came knocking on Jamison’s door, and his world quickly became too small.

Kansas, West Virginia and SDSU were just three of the major schools that came looking for Jamison, one of the more sought-after community college players in the country. To do so, they had to travel to Pratt, Kan., halfway between Wichita and Dodge City. So you know they were serious.

The attention was flattering. But the intensity of recruiting pressure wore on Jamison after a while.

Finally, he walked into the office of Pratt Coach Gary Thomas and declared: “I’ve been to Casper; I’ve been to Pratt; I want to go home. I’m going to San Diego State.”

The Aztecs are glad he did.