PHOTO BY DREW SELLERS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

BY TODD DYBAS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

When Darnell Gant stepped to the line, one of the diminutive members of the Huskies dance team moved forward.

Gant missed the free throw, subsequently he received a golf clap from his small supporter. He hit the next, the cheerleader took a boost and did that little celebratory wave cheerleaders do.

Here's hoping the cheerleader's exercise isn't predicated on Gant scoring. The fifth finger of the starters for the Huskies, the 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman is averaging 3.8 points this season.

It's not that Gant is incapable. He averaged more than 22 points a game his senior season at Los Angeles' Crenshaw High School. But in Bank of America Arena, he's surrounded by scorers.

That leaves Gant with the following on-court priorities: defense, rebounding, hedging, rebounding and defending. His role has all the glitz of a manhole cover.

But the best part for Gant and the coaching staff? He gets it.

"He's embraced it," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "As a freshman, sometimes you don't get in there. He's not only in there, he's starting for us. I think the key is, a lot of kids don't understand this, find a way to get on the floor. Don't worry about how many shots your getting. Get on the floor and eventually those things will take care of themselves."

Gant is unaware of his scoring average. He is aware of what he's asked to do. He's aware of the joy playing the piano brings him. The joy of writing a song for his grandmother, who raised him, the same woman he talks to nearly every day about school, then basketball.

Those around Gant are aware of the joy he walks around with. At the end of the game against Morgan State, he's hugging the entire female portion of the Romar clan, approaching them by saying, "Family." In response, he gets a "Darnell ..."

The All-American bruiser, himself not hesitant with a smile, pops the corners of his mouth when talking about his starting postmate.

"There are just some people who have certain traits about them that attract others," Jon Brockman said. "People want to be around them and hang out with them.

"I don't know what it is, but he has that."

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Gant attracted the right hand of Washington State's Caleb Forrest Saturday in Pullman. Forrest, who has since apologized to Gant and Romar, swung and hit Gant in the back of the head with a punch with just more than 90 seconds left in the blowout.

Gant responded with a slight shove and some choice words. They each received a technical. Romar took Gant out of the game immediately, then went to him on the bench, ready to deliver a scolding for talking trash in a blowout. Gant started to explain, then stopped.

"I don't like to talk back to coach, so I had to keep my mouth closed," Gant said. "Then, when he asked me, I got to explain."

It was Gant's second lifetime technical. In his more developmental days, he accidentally threw the ball at the wrong person.

While Gant's genteel personality endears him to many, there is a basketball drawback. He's too nice.

Assistant coach Paul Fortier, often reluctantly, yells at Gant. He works with Gant on his hedging technique. He batters Gant with pads under the hoop trying to improve the forward's strength. He reminds Gant that bringing the ball low twice against Morgan State cost the Huskies the rebounding battle, the first time they were outrebounded this season. Fortier also reminds Gant to stop being, my goodness, so nice.

"Sometimes I think he's so nice of a guy, he brings it on the court," Fortier said. "It's not a bad thing, it's just who he is. We're just trying to get him to take that off. Just trying to get him to be a little nasty."

Choosing to redshirt could be considered a nasty proposition. Gant brought the idea to the coaches, they never brought it to him.

That meant Gant wouldn't be traveling with the team last year. He would be on the bench for the season. His friends would come out, and there's Gant not playing. Not cool.

"That's what other people think," Gant said of the hipness of choosing to redshirt.

"You're friends say, 'Man, we're coming out. You're not playing?' " Fortier said. "It's not a cool thing."

Gant, who had to work hard to qualify for admission to Washington, decided to use the year to get his schoolwork in order. That was the priority. He's thankful for the decision now.

"I was just thinking about myself and long-term goals," Gant said. "I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made."

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Darnell Gant is bored. That means it's time to move to the piano for a couple of hours.

Gant was 10 when his cousin started teaching him how to play. Gant says he's blessed with a "good ear" and can pickup things off the radio, then play them. It's the influence of his church that really motivated his musical inclinations, as it did for many of his Crenshaw High School brethren.

"Growing up in a church like me and a lot of my friends did, you can't help but pick up the music side of it," Gant said. "You get drawn into that. The music is so good on a Sunday morning, and you just want to play for them."

That's an apt way to describe Gant's intentions when talking about his grandmother. Gant's mother was around, but unable to take care of him when he was young. His grandparents, Earlie Mayez and Louise Mayez, were Gant's legal guardians. His grandmother stands as the beacon for Gant, legal and otherwise.

That didn't mean she could make it through a game. If Crenshaw High was losing, Louise was heading for the exits. She couldn't handle watching Gant and his teammates lose.

When Louise remained in her seat, she would yell to Gant, a voice emerging from the din of the crowd.

"Focus, baby, focus!"

Though Louise is yet to attend a Huskies game this season, she made a couple last year, Gant still hears that voice in his head while playing. He also hears it every day on the phone.

"Talking about school first most of the time," Gant said his conversations with his grandmother. "Then we talk about music, I'll tell her when I'm writing a song or when I have a song for her to sing.

"I love my grandmother to death. I'd do anything for that lady."

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Gant has shown flashes of his renowned athleticism. He swooped across the lane against Morgan State for a weakside block. A two-handed tip jam against Washington State sent the Huskies bench into a tizzy. Flashes of his midrange jumper, a shot Romar says is in Gant's arsenal, have been shown.

But he needs to add weight and strength. Gant is trying to hold the 215 pounds that weigh him down now. That's up from his freshman year on campus, though a number the coaches would like to see increase.

Gant needs to improve performing the requirements of his role. Romar feels he can be more aggressive, get better defensively and in rebounding. The coach also feels Gant's scoring will come in time, comparing a possible college path to Bobby Jones' evolution.

"One of the best things about Darnell is he wants to get better," Brockman said. "He's always listening, he's always engaged."

Meanwhile, Fortier is staying on him, though it's a challenge sometimes.

"I think even if you get upset at him, on the floor, off the floor, you look at him ... he's trying," Fortier said. "That is the biggest thing. He may make a mistake, but he's the first one to let you know. As a coach, when you see guys continue to try, those are the kind of guys you want to fight for."

Gant, once again, gets it.

"I've got a long way to go, but I think I'll get there," he said.

Todd Dybas is the editor of Seattlesportsonline.com. He can be reached via e-mail at tdybas@seattlesportsonline.com