Cooling down in the Saint Joseph's locker room after a hard-fought win over Penn in front of a boisterous Palestra, senior point guard Jameer Nelson is the first person to scribble his name on the whiteboard to let his coaches know that he will not be taking the team bus back to Hawk Hill.
The preseason All-American would be leaving the West Philadelphia landmark with his family that came to support him. During the game, his mom proudly displayed a sign with the message, "That's my boy -- You can't guard him!" as her son backed up her words with 23 points.
Amid the hype and media attention surrounding Philly's most prominent college basketball player, Nelson finds success through a selfless demeanor.
At a critical point in the Big 5 showdown, Hawks coach Phil Martelli called a timeout with under a minute to play in the first half after three straight Penn three-pointers brought the Quakers within two.
With 48 ticks left on the clock, Martelli wanted to get a quick score so St. Joe's would have two possessions before the end of the half.
There was no question who Martelli would call upon to halt Penn's momentum, and Nelson calmly delivered as the Hawks ended up with two scores and a six-point lead going into halftime.
"Now I would only go two-for-one because of him," Martelli said. "We go two-for-one, he runs the ball down the floor, they were zone and he got inside the zone and made a little floater."
Nelson naturally deflects his obvious game-breaking efforts to his teammates.
"Well, it wasn't on me, it was my team," he said. "My team opened things up for me and I've just got to contribute."
The Chester, Pa., native did a lot for his team in return, posting eight steals and six rebounds in addition to his game-high scoring on Saturday afternoon.
Nelson even provided a little support for his coach during the Big 5 contest.
As Martelli began to voice his disapproval with the timing of a foul call in the first half, the heady point guard motioned with his hands from across the court as to tell his coach to keep calm.
"I've never seen a player do that to a coach, but he's a player- coach and he'll listen to you," Nelson said. "He knows what he's doing, he knows he's not going to get a technical, but at the same time I wanted him to understand that I didn't want the whistle to go the other way."
Martelli is grateful to have Nelson's services after the guard pulled out of the 2003 NBA Draft and decided to return for his senior campaign.
"He's got it, he's got the referees, he's got the opponents, he's got the visiting crowd," he said. "To be honest with you, don't tell anybody at St. Joe's, but this is almost like stealing, he could flat out coach this team."
Nelson's backcourt partner, Delonte West, echoed his coach's opinion.
"He's a coach on the floor, he's out there coaching guys," the junior shooting guard said. "He keeps guys calm when the game gets hectic and it's a pleasure to have a guy on the floor to add to the team."
West and Nelson, have proven to be one of the most potent tandems in all of college basketball, averaging 37 points per game combined.
With his decision to return to Hawk Hill, Nelson has led St. Joe's to a tremendous start thus far -- including a No. 12 ranking and a 5-0 record -- but the senior still maintains a grounded approach to his future.
"Nobody knows where they're going to end up," Nelson said. "I don't know where I'm going to end up an hour from now, but you hope and just pray that you end up in a good situation at the end of your college career and throughout your college career."
A year from now, Nelson's life will most likely change dramatically as he acclimates to the NBA, but for now a ride home from his mom is good enough for him.
