Airey Finally Locates His Comfort Zone : Basketball: Former Capistrano Valley guard makes the transition from Loyola Marymount to Irvine Valley.

The gym’s lights glow brightly, humming a soothing song overhead. The basketball taps out a beat of its own, a comforting rhythm on a chilly, wet night outside. High-tops squeak on the wooden floor, another pleasant, familiar tune.

Tom Airey hears it all and smiles. Basketball is fun again.

Low-key, to be sure. A comedown, perhaps. A comeback, certainly.

Airey, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard at Irvine Valley College, doesn’t mind playing far from the Division I limelight, with only a handful of friends and relatives in the stands on game nights. He doesn’t even mind practicing at his old high school because the community college’s gym isn’t finished.

He loves playing for his new coach, a funny, crusty old guy who probably has forgotten more about the game than Airey knows. He even likes the coach’s son, his chief assistant, a chip off the block if ever there was one.

It has been almost a year since Airey packed his jump shot and left Loyola Marymount after playing one game for the Lions, a two-minute appearance with zero points, rebounds or assists against Michigan State. He said basketball had become a business.

He enrolled at Irvine Valley, wondering if he’d ever recapture his passion.

Gradually, after memories of 6 a.m. wake-up calls to lift weights before class and practices after day-long airplane trips began to fade, Airey’s love returned.

“This is a lot more fun,” he said, looking around the empty Capistrano Valley High gym before an Irvine Valley practice.

“I don’t think I was ready for Division I. It was tough coming back from a foot injury. A lot of stuff was happening all at once. I don’t regret leaving. I’m just happy I’m here.”

When Airey graduated from Capistrano Valley in 1992, he had the sort of resume that seemed to ensure Division I success. He had a can’t-miss jump shot, making 276 three-point baskets in his high school career, the third-highest total in Southern Section history. He also led his team to a section championship as a senior.

But all was not as it seemed, as Airey was soon to discover. First, he broke his foot in the section title game. Next, he met John Olive, Loyola’s new coach, a former assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova. Olive believed rugged defense won games.

Airey would have to change his game at Loyola. He would have to learn to play tighter defense, to pass more often and to rebound occasionally.

But change wasn’t what drove Airey away from Loyola.

“It was the whole basketball process,” he said. “It got to be a business. There was no more love at all. It was just a grind.”

So he left to play for Bill Mulligan at Irvine Valley.

“It’s the complete opposite end of the spectrum,” Airey said. “Here, you come, you play, then you leave. It’s part of your life, not your whole life. It’s a lot less intense. It’s hard to get up for the games sometimes.”

But that’s not all that bad, especially when you’re trying to learn the game all over again.

“He understood the game pretty well, but he still didn’t play it very well and that’s a huge difference,” said Brian Mulligan, an Irvine Valley assistant and a former Capistrano Valley assistant.

“He left high school still pretty limited.”

Airey was a shooter and not much more, and he readily admits that now. In order to be a successful college player, at any level, he needed to become more than just another gunner.

The process started with Olive at Loyola, but Airey lost his drive before the task was complete. Now, he figures he’s almost there, almost a well-rounded player.

He has gained 15 pounds since high school and expanded his game to include defense, passing and rebounding.

“I’m always going to be a shooter,” Airey said. “But the coaches have taught me to be a player, not just a shooter.”

Don’t misunderstand. The Mulligans want Airey shooting three-pointers as often as possible, but they also want him to be capable of handling other parts of the game just as efficiently.

After all, sometimes the shots won’t be there--either because an opponent’s defense will be designed to shut him down or because Airey is having an off night.

“Now, I can contribute to the team with other things,” Airey said. “A few times in high school it was an issue. It was a huge issue with me with Olive.”

At Irvine Valley, it always comes back to shooting. Airey’s role, above all else, is to fire away from behind the three-point line. He’s not the focus of the Lasers’ offense, but a close second to Damon Sims, a 6-foot-9 center.

“We want (Airey) to shoot it,” Bill Mulligan said. “We do a lot of things to get him open.”

Airey didn’t stop working on his jumper while he polished the rest of his game.

He practiced a quicker release, the better to foil taller defenders. He also has tried to become more consistent and more selective. Patience, he has found, can be as important as good rotation.

He also has learned not to live and die with every shot, every game.

“We played Pasadena and nothing was falling,” Airey said. “I missed two free throws at the end of the game and we lost. Then there are other games, like at Riverside (a 31-point game) where everything goes right.

“Inconsistency is frustrating. Other teams make their whole game plan to stop me. I guess that’s an honor. It’s made me a better player.”

And a happier one, too.