Jameel Pugh sat as a recruit in head coach Jerome Jenkins’office watching a highlight tape of Sacramento Statebasketball.

One particular highlight jolted Pugh from his seat: The image ofa 6-foot-5 guard elevating above defenders and flushing home anacrobatic alley-oop caught his attention.

“When I see someone else dunk I get excited,” said Pugh, who was considering a transfer to Sacramento State from theUniversity of Massachusetts at the time. “And when I saw ahigh flying guard like that, it really struck my interest that theyhad athletes of that caliber playing here.”

The high flyer on the highlight reel was guard Joel Jones.

Jones, now a senior, was out of town for Pugh’s visit sothe two didn’t meet until Pugh made his transfer official.

The most Jones had seen of Pugh was a SLAM Magazine articletouting Pugh as the “Greatest Dunker in the World.”

Jones was told all Pugh had was jumping ability, but lacked allthe other qualities of an overall player, including a goodshot.

But the first time the two played each other, “He lit meup,” Jones said. “Someone gave me the wrong scoutingreport. His jumper was just as fluid as mine or anyone else’son the team.”

Pugh had heard the same things about Jones’ game as peoplewere saying about his own.

“A lot of people take notice of Joel’s athleticism,but they really don’t know how good of a shooter heis,” Pugh said.

“His strength is his shooting. His jumping ability iscomparable to the best in the country, but his shooting still topsthat.”

They had instant respect for one another.

The two stars came into this season with similar stories. Both werehumbled sitting out last season – Jones due to academicineligibility and Pugh due to NCAA rules that say players must sitout a year after transferring.

Pugh had already compiled an impressive resume by his senioryear of high school.

He bounced back from being cut from his Washington High Schoolteam in Fremont as a sophomore and moved to Sacramento to leadGrant High School to a state championship his senior year.

He impressed scouts as one of the top guard prospects on theWest Coast and won a world dunk contest in France while travelingwith his AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) summer team.

And of course there was the SLAM magazine “bestdunker” title. But Pugh failed to live up to expectations atUMass.

He averaged just 2.6 minutes and 1.2 points his freshman year atMassachusetts, 11.4 minutes and 5.3 points his sophomore year.

He attributes his disappointment on the court to his lack ofmaturity off of it.

“Initially you come into a school and they have picturesof you, articles written and everyone’s heard of you,”Pugh said. “I got there and I wasn’t as focused as Ishould have been. I wanted to have the college experience and playcollege basketball and that’s not something you can do. Ididn’t get the proper rest or preparation for thegames.”

Pugh wasn’t achieving his personal goals on the court orin the classroom. He always felt that if basketball wasn’tgoing to work, he could fall back on his academics.

When he saw both ends were deteriorating he knew it was time tomove on.

“It was a lonely feeling. I was 3,000 miles away from homewith a new coach, new players on the team and without any sense offamiliarity.”

So Pugh moved back to Sacramento to be reunited with his friendsand family and said he feels more ready to accept the challengesand responsibilities of college basketball.

Most importantly though, he can play in front of his No.1 fanagain.

“My mother is my crutch when I am down and my biggestsupporter when things are going well,” Pugh said. “Shewas the only one who helped me stay focused mentally on mygoals.”

Pugh says it has never been a question of his talent orathleticism. It has always been about his ability to stay focusedand his mother, Louise, keeps him focused.

“She is the reason why I continue to get up every time Ifall down. As long as I have her support I can accomplishanything,” Pugh said. “I play this game forher.”

Louise has watched her son play every home game this season andeven traveled to watch him score a game-high 18 points againstStanford in the Hornets’ season opener.

In the home opener against Dominican, she was the loudest onecheering when her son rose above the rim, snatched the rebound andslammed the first of many Jameel Pugh memories in a Hornetuniform.

Memories that will be created here in Sacramento because of theimage he saw of Jones in the highlight reel almost two yearsago.

Jones, known as “Jo-Jo” by friends and teammates,played only a single varsity season his senior year at MontgomeryHigh School in San Diego, Calif. He was named to the all-Metroleague after averaging 19 points. He stayed in San Diego, playingat local Grossmont Junior College, where he led the team in points,assists, rebounds, blocks and steals to earn all-Pacific CoastLeague honors.

Still, Jones wasn’t happy with his basketball situation ata junior college. He even contemplated quitting the game after hissophomore year.

But a trip to the University of Pacific to play in the StocktonSophomore Showcase and a basketball camp in Los Angeles changedeverything.

“Ten minutes after walking into my house, an assistantcoach from Sac State called,” Jones said. “Four otherschools called that same night. It went from nothing tosomething.”

Jones came to Sac State and made an immediate impact.

His first year for the Hornets, he was the second-leading scorerfor the team and earned honorable mention in the Big SkyConference.

But while standing in an airport in June 2002, headed for asummer in Puerto Rico, Jones got a call from his mother telling himthat coach Jenkins was looking for him.

“I knew what was coming,” Jones said.

According to Jones, he had a G.P.A. of 1.9 and 1.2 during hisfirst two semesters at Sac State.

He was named academically ineligible and was forced to redshirtthe 2002-03 season.

“It was a tough time period for both of us and it came ata time where we were developing a relationship to trust oneanother,” Jenkins said. “He saw I was willing to dowhatever it takes to help him get a college degree because that isway bigger than basketball.”

Jenkins gave Jones the same support that Louise gave herson.

“Coach Jenkins is like my Dad,” Jones said.”He always cared. He is a role model for achievingsuccess.”

Jones bounced back academically. He said he achieved a 3.2 lastfall and a 2.8 in the spring.

“It was a real humbling experience,” Jones said.”I never take things for granted so you can understand howappreciative I am right now just to be playing.”

A natural rivalry will always exist between two talents whoshare the same basketball, especially when they share the samedreams for themselves and the program. But both Jones and Pughagree that their personal goals take a backseat to the team’soverall success.

“I’ll do anything it takes to win,” Jonessaid. “If you focus on individual statistics it kills theteam goal. I don’t even care what I average this year.I’m just trying to win.”

The two describe the competition between each other at practiceas “cutthroat.”

“Playing against him really increases my confidence levelbecause I fear no guard in the league,” Pugh said. “IfI take a day off coach is on me, saying things like “Is Jo-Jogoing to go off today? Jo-Jo going to kill? You going to step up onJo-Jo today?'”

Pugh and Jones both realize they cannot lag a single day, forfear the other will pass them by.

They understand the on-court chemistry will come only throughthe experience of the season.

Once they find that chemistry, opponents will need to answer howto handle two of the most athletic guards in the conference playingon the same team.

“Jameel and Jo-Jo draw an extreme amount of attentionbecause of who they are,” Jenkins said. “Now they havegood enough players around them to become betterplaymakers.”

The Hornets have a team goal to win the Big Sky ConferenceTournament and reach the NCAA Big Dance, and if Pugh and Jones playto their capabilities they may share more than just highlightreels.