Erickson Happy Her Identity Crisis Is Over : Prep basketball: Brea-Olinda guard finally meets former UCLA and NBA player many have mistaken for her father.

Nicole Erickson, the Brea-Olinda point guard who helped the Ladycats win the State Division II championship in her freshman year last season, is a girl with two Keith Ericksons in her life.

The Keith Erickson she knows best is her father, a paper salesman and former baseball player at Imperial Valley College and Arkansas State University. He started teaching her the fundamentals of basketball in their back yard when she was 8.

But as her basketball prowess became known after she took over the point guard position from prep All-American Aimee McDaniel (now at Pepperdine), reports began circulating that she was the daughter of the Keith Erickson, former UCLA standout and NBA veteran who once played for the Lakers.

“Finally, I got a letter from Keith Erickson (the ex-basketball player),” Nicole recalled. “He said that people were asking him if he was my dad and that he heard I was a pretty good player.”

Nicole wrote back and invited him to speak at the team’s basketball banquet.

A pen-pal relationship was born.

“Somebody sent me a copy of an article about her and how she had been coached by her father, Keith Erickson, and thought she was my daughter,” said Keith Erickson, the ex-basketball player. “So I wrote her a note and wished her the best of luck. She wrote me back and said they were having a banquet and invited me to speak. I couldn’t make it, but it was a real sweet note.”

Last May, Nicole and the two Keith Ericksons finally met at a breakfast meeting in Yorba Linda, where the ex-Bruin standout was speaking.

“It was a real pleasant surprise, outstanding, really a lot of fun,” Erickson, who is now in business in Southern California, said of the meeting Nicole and her father.

Erickson, whose oldest daughter, Angelica, 17, played at Santa Monica High School last season, said he hopes to see Nicole play this season. “I think I might bring the whole family,” he said.

Whichever Keith Erickson she is playing in front of, however, Nicole, who averaged 11.1 points and 4.3 assists last season, is eagerly anticipating her sophomore year.

“This year, we have some younger players up, and I think we can really do it,” she said. “The practices are going really well. We might even be practicing harder than last year. We wanted to play a much tougher schedule and play against some Division I schools. We’re gonna play Peninsula (of Rolling Hills Estates) and they’re rated No. 1 in the nation.”

Not surprisingly, Erickson feels less apprehensive than she did a year ago when she replaced McDaniel, regarded as the best girl basketball player in the school’s history.

“I knew I had a lot of pressure last year,” Erickson said. “We didn’t think of it as filling Aimee’s shoes. I didn’t think of replacing her. She was a great player and no one could really replace her. I was nervous coming in during the summer, but in a couple of weeks everyone made me feel comfortable.”

When the Ladycats, who were moved up in classification, went on to win the Southern Section and state championships with a 33-1 record, some people were surprised, but not Erickson.

“I think everyone really knew we could do it at the beginning,” she said. “We had the seniors and Jody (Anton) and we knew we could win it all. We were confident and when they said we were rebuilding, we set our minds to showing everybody.”

Ladycat Coach Mark Trakh said, “There is almost a point guard tradition at Brea. She (Erickson) was anxious. She was known in the area. Obviously, she came through. At first, she made a lot of freshman mistakes, but she learned from her mistakes and got better every game. You’ve got to remember, she was only 14 and a freshman.”

“She was playing cautiously last year,” her father said. “I think she hasn’t really broken loose yet.”

And he ought to know. After all, as far as Nicole is concerned, he is the Keith Erickson.