A FRESH APPROACH

This is ground zero for UCLA’s freshman frolic: an on-campus suite, two bedrooms, four freshmen. Stop by at your own risk.

This is the shape of Bruin basketball things to come?

“I’ve been over there once,” senior J.R. Henderson said, sounding something like an environmental alert when he describes the dorm suite shared by Baron Davis, Earl Watson, Billy Knight and Travis Reed.

“It was just as I expected. They were goofing around, rooms were all messy--you know, throwing stuff at each other. I haven’t been back since. I don’t even go in that area.”

Presented with Henderson’s judgment, the suitemates abashedly say their rooms no longer appear tornado struck.

But, with giggles and not a tiny amount of pride, they do not deny that, with most of UCLA’s six-player class of 2001 living there, the suite is a chaotic home base for a new generation of Bruin.

“What do we do? Just wrestling in the room or playing video games,” Davis said. “Actually, one night we all stayed up until about 4 o’clock, just making up poems in our head and saying them out loud. Just all rhyming together--it was fun.

“It was like a game, and if you messed up, you were out. Travis lost, like, every time.”

In all there are six freshmen and all but Rico Hines and Watson come from Southern California. And all of them knew each other from summer basketball camps years before they decided to enroll at UCLA.

Already, it’s obvious that the freshmen--the four suitemates plus Hines and walk-on Todd Ramasar--have assigned and freely acknowledged roles in the group.

Davis is the born leader, a famous, fearless future NBA point guard. Watson is the quiet moral center of the group, a private person who has been the surprise--and mystery--of UCLA’s early season.

“I think it works perfectly,” Davis said of his backcourt partnership with Watson. “I do a lot of talking and he’s kind of quiet.

“But, oh, he talks. Believe me, he can talk. He doesn’t really talk around a lot of people, but he’s not a mute, you know? People think he’s a mute, and he’s not.”

Reed is the requisite big-bodied nonstop laugh track, the future screen setter and blue-collar board man. Knight is the gangly shooter with the Michael Jackson music blaring at all hours. Hines, who spent last year at a military academy, is the hyper uncle. And Ramasar is the walk-on warrior.

They make up the first real generation of the Steve Lavin era--his first recruiting class, the first extensions of his manic soul--and their development will be one of the significant indicators of his success or stagnation as Bruin coach.

Though Davis and Watson are the only two getting significant playing time--Reed, Knight and Hines all started games during the suspensions of Kris Johnson and Jelani McCoy but play seldom now--they think of themselves as one unit and are fiercely protective of one another.

“Being that Kris and Jelani were out, they knew they were going to get a lot of playing time,” Davis said of Reed, Knight and Hines. “And they would have to develop and gain as much experience as possible until those guys came back. And now that they’re back, their time has decreased substantially.

“I think they still have their heads up and they’re working hard in practice every day.”

Reed and Knight, in particular, exceeded expectations in their early-season outings. Reed scored 14 points against New Mexico and got 14 points and 11 rebounds against Cal State Fullerton. Knight scored 15 against Fullerton.

But with the suspensions over, and Lavin using a six-man rotation, both are lucky to check into a game now.

“I think it’s probably been most difficult for Travis and Billy, because Travis had a double-double . . . and Billy got the start and got 15,” Lavin said. “In most programs, if you got 15 points, you’d be starting the next game. I’m not even sure he got to start the next half. [Knight didn’t, having gotten the start only because Lavin benched Henderson, Davis and Johnson at the start of the game for minor rules violations].

“Other teams don’t have the five or six players that we have. The five or six that I have, there’s not a lot of minutes to share on the roster. We have to go with the players to this point who have gotten us here.”

So, the nonplaying freshmen bide their time, cheer on the bench, tease each other, watch Davis and Watson sprint up and down the court and absorb the atmosphere. They wait.

“You never see one of us without the other,” Hines said. “Hopefully, we’ll go down in history with a legacy. I think we’re like one big family, you know?

“We’re all so close. We know each other’s weaknesses and strengths. I can talk to Billy one way and talk to Baron another way. It’s like you can scream at Baron, but you can’t scream at Billy. I think it makes us a better group.”

Said Davis, “The first five [if you sub out Davis and Watson] against the freshmen, we think we’d beat them any time. We all know each other and hang out with each other. We feel we can take on anybody.”

It has been years since UCLA has had so many new faces with this kind of energy. In the previous two seasons, the Bruins welcomed only two scholarship freshmen.

What has developed is a friendly rivalry between the older and younger “generations” fused together for one season--before the class of 2001 begins to dominate the scene. Johnson, Toby Bailey and Henderson are seniors, and junior McCoy might leave for the NBA early.

For one brief stretch in the second game of the season, against Alaska Anchorage, Lavin played five freshmen--everybody but Ramasar--and suddenly, the distant future was upon them.

“It’s like, I get along with Toby and the older players, but they’re older than me, they do older stuff,” Knight said. “So, it’s fun to have freshmen to be around. It’s easier to play too.

“Earl was telling me in the [Alaska Anchorage] game, just think when we get to be seniors, think how good it’ll be. It was scary, but it was fun too.

“I was thinking, man, for two or three years, it’s going to be the same group. We’re going to have so much experience. It’ll be so fun.”

Said Reed, “I feel that Baron’s going to know where I’m at and Billy’s going to know where I’m at and I’m going to know where Billy’s going to be.

“It makes it better. You know you’re never going to be all alone. I can talk to Earl about anything, and vice versa. That’s special.”

So, this six-man squad has been a shock to the system, and the broadest bridge to the future for UCLA since a freshman class a few years ago headed by Bailey, Henderson, Johnson and the since-transferred omm’A Givens.

“They’re definitely goofy,” Henderson said of the new crop, denying any comparison to his first-year experiences. “I mean, the goofiest bunch I’ve ever been around. There’s a bunch of them, so one of them’s always going to be acting goofy.

“What’s really frustrating is when all of them start acting goofy at once. And it happens often.”

One night the bunch went to see “Scream 2” together, and Davis, wearing a mask and carrying a flashlight, spent the rest of the late evening sneaking into Reed and Knight’s bedroom.

“We came back to our room and Baron’s in there yelling, ‘You’re so scared, man!’ ” Knight said.

For the older Bruins, the arrival of so many talented players at one time caused some slight concern. Could they co-exist, or would the freshmen fight each other and the veterans for the ball and for playing time?

Until September, star prep forward Schea Cotton, not known as a low-key personality, also was a part of the recruiting class. But days before school started, the NCAA ruled him academically ineligible, and Cotton is attending a prep school in Connecticut.

Cotton’s departure reduced the class from one of the best in the nation--a step below only Duke’s--to one that was considered merely strong, almost solely on the strength of Davis and Watson.

“If Schea would’ve come . . . I think there would’ve been some issues,” Henderson said. “‘Just because all of them were kind of like, ‘the man,’ at their school. I think having one more would’ve been too many.

“Still, I was expecting [hard feelings over playing time or lack of shots] to happen a lot. But it just hasn’t happened that much, not at all. They don’t fight for the ball, they’re really unselfish.”

Henderson credits Davis, who could take 25 shots a game if he wanted, probably without argument from the coaching staff, for peeling back his game to make sure the other freshmen aren’t totally overshadowed.

“Baron’s the type of guy that could get to the basket any time he wants--like 95% of the time,” Henderson said. “He’s been unselfish, just passing the ball, getting everyone involved.

“Even with a lot of freshmen on his team and we’re playing a certain drill, he always tries to get them involved.”

Without any jealousies, most of the concern has centered on Watson, who clearly misses being back home in Kansas City, Kan., and, by Lavin’s admission, has contemplated transferring.

When the other freshmen were at home for Christmas break, Watson was by himself in the suite--so Ramasar invited Watson to his house for a few days. Though Lavin has said he wonders each time Watson returns home if he’ll decide to stay in Kansas, Davis says he is sure of his friend’s commitment.

“Earl’s quiet, and he does miss home,” Davis said. “But he loves being here. Every time he goes home, I have no worries, because I know he’s coming back. He wants to visit his family, and that’s natural. He’s real close with his mom.

“I don’t think Earl’s going anywhere. We all love him on this team. He means so much to this team--not just basketball, but as a person. . . . He’s someone who brings a lot of fun and a lot of unity to the team.”

So, the last and most obvious question about the longevity and potential glory of this group: How long will Davis, projected as a first-round pick any time he might want to become a millionaire, ignore the call of the NBA?

The destiny of this class has been in his hands since the moment he committed to UCLA.

Yes, his classmates tease him about abandoning them.

“All the time--all the time,” Davis said with some exasperation. “They’re like, ‘Well, you won’t be here next year.’ Or when they’re saying, ‘We’re going somewhere our junior year, you won’t be here.’ I just shake my head.

“Those kinds of thoughts are not on my mind. I’m enjoying being a college student. It’s the best experience I’ve had so far, going to class and hanging out with my teammates, going home, seeing my family. I can do all that without any pressures. Going to the NBA is a job. I’m not ready for a job.”