Anybody who has a little brother knows how it is.’Zo just wanted to ball with his friends. Little Billy, three years younger, kept getting in the way, nagging to get onto the court.”He was a bad little kid,” ‘Zo said. “He was just annoying; he always wanted to play but he was too small.”They weren’t related, but that’s how it went. Billy would come over to ‘Zo’s apartment complex to shoot on that lone basketball hoop, only to be chased away. Until one day, ‘Zo moved.And something happened while he was gone. Billy White wasn’t a fifth grader anymore. Billy White had grown into a beast. And when Lorrenzo Wade saw him years later, you could say he was impressed.”I hadn’t ever seen anyone jump like that before,” Wade said. “He was gifted.”Seven years later, he was finally going to let Billy play. Wade made sure his old acquaintance was coming to San Diego State to play college basketball, even if it was the same kid who pestered him so long ago.”He’s still the same bad little Billy, he’s just a lot bigger and better now,” the junior forward said. “But I told his mom I wasn’t going to let him get into trouble.”And just like that, the Las Vegas natives became teammates at SDSU. For the first time, they were counterparts on the court, and White has certainly held his own.The forward led all freshmen in scoring (9.1), rebounding (6.5) and blocks (1.13) during Mountain West Conference play. On Monday, he was named the MWC Freshman of the Year.White wasn’t expected to have such an impact on the team, however. But injuries and suspensions have hurt the Aztecs’ depth. It didn’t take long for White to prove that his energy and athleticism belonged on the court at all times.”He plays extremely hard and does a great job of going to the glass,” head coach Steve Fisher said after a victory over Wyoming last month. “He is so long and athletic, that when he moves, the ball finds him.”SDSU (19-11, 9-7 in MWC play) will need White and lead-scorer Wade to step up big if it hopes to win the MWC Championships and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.The Aztecs’ conference title chance begins when they take on Air Force at 2:30 p.m. today at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.SDSU knows that it will take more than just a victory over the Falcons (16-13, 8-8) to keep its March Madness hopes alive. And even though the team just lost to the Falcons 46-43 on Saturday, they remain confident.”We’re smart enough to know that if we want to make the NCAA Tournament, we’re going to have to win three in a row,” Fisher said. “If we play well, we’re going to have a chance to win, and not just the first game.”
AT A GLANCEWhen: 2:30 p.m., today
Where: Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas
Why to watch: SDSU plays its biggest game of the year as it tries to make the NCAA Tournament by winning three games in three days.
TV: The Mtn. and 4SD
Radio: XTRA Sports 1360 AM