hroughout his life, Tiki Mayben has always acted older than his age.

When the Troy native was in fourth grade, teenagers from his neighborhood would call his mother, Anita, on the phone begging her to let Mayben run the point in pickup games down the street. They promised to bring him home safely before dark.

Years later, Mayben found himself surrounded by older players when he started playing Amateur Athletic Union basketball for the Albany City Rocks. The summer before he entered high school, Mayben played point guard on the 17-and-older team as a 15-year-old, even cracking the starting lineup on occasion before taking over as a full-time starter the next year.

Fittingly, Mayben made the decision to attend Syracuse at a time when most boys his age were competing for a spot on the junior varsity team. Mayben made a verbal commitment to attend SU after a visit to the Syracuse campus before his sophomore year of high school. He knew that Syracuse was the right place for him without visiting any other colleges and he is one of SU's four recruits for the 2005-2006 season.

"Before I started my sophomore year, I went up to Syracuse and played with the team and they greeted me with the utmost hospitality," Mayben said. "It's something that I'll never forget. The whole thing just felt right and there was a real family vibe there."

Although Mayben is regarded as one of the top recruits at his position in this year's recruiting class, he didn't start playing basketballs seriously until he turned 12. Before that, he starred as a scrambling quarterback in Pop Warner football and played a number of positions on his baseball team.

Mayben also visited the Troy Boys Club regularly, watching older kids play basketball and studying their moves. After hanging around the gym for awhile, it wasn't long before he started to impress with moves of his own.

"Being a single mom, I always let him play every sport because it kept him busy," Anita Mayben said. "Everyone always tells me that they thought he would stick with football, but he really picked up basketball hard and has kept going with it."

After spending a few years mastering his ball-handling and dribbling skills at the boys club, Mayben broke into AAU basketball when Jim Hart, the coach of the team, saw him play as an eighth grader.

The coach quickly moved him up to the 17-and-older team and inserted Mayben into his first game against the Atlanta Celtics. The first time he got the ball, Mayben was at halfcourt, crossed over from right to left and went in for a lefty lay-up - but the ball missed the rim entirely and banged off the backboard.

Hart laughed hysterically as one of Mayben's teammates dunked home the missed shot. It was after the game that he found out that the horrible miss was actually a pass.

"When he came over to the bench and told me that it was a pass I didn't believe him," Hart said. "But when we went back and looked at the tape you could tell that he was throwing it off the glass. It was a great example of how well he sees the court."

While Mayben's decision to attend SU was an easy one, getting the necessary grades to start school in the fall has been a different story. He has earned a qualifying SAT score, Hart said, but Mayben's academic eligibility won't be known until his final grades are calculated. If he doesn't earn at least a 2.5 GPA, Mayben will have to attend prep school.

In addition to his academic troubles, Mayben was suspended during his sophomore year at Troy High School and didn't play basketball his junior season. The Syracuse coaching staff then urged him to leave Troy for Winchendon Prep School in Massachusetts in order to face tougher competition and improve his academics.

Mayben only stayed at the prep school for five days before returning home.

"At the time my mother was sick and I never really understood why I had to pick up and go there," Mayben said. "Coach (Mike) Hopkins and coach (Jim) Boeheim thought that was the best thing for me, but when I called them and explained my situation they understood."

Despite Mayben's recent troubles in the classroom, he has made a positive mark on the Troy community throughout high school. The 6-foot-3 guard coaches and referees basketball at the same club where he learned the game growing up and speaks to kids about staying in school and staying away from drugs.

His mother credits his willingness to help others to the environment that he was exposed to growing up. He shared a home with his mother and sister. The three live on the second floor of a three-floor apartment building, with Mayben's grandfather on the first floor and his aunt one floor above.

"I run into kids on the street and in the gym all the time and I make sure that they're concentrating on the big picture," Mayben said. "They have the opportunity to make it out of here as long as they stay away from the fast money that comes with living in this area."

Once Mayben joins the Orange he will be reunited with former Albany City Rock's teammate Dayshawn Wright - a freshman forward who played 57 minutes this season. The two kept in touch this year by talking frequently on the phone.

"We spoke about a lot of mental issues and about playing time," Mayben said. "He's like my brother from another mother, so I was hoping to keep him focused on the task at hand and let him know that he's only a freshman, so he can't expect to be on the court all the time."

Although Mayben will most likely go through a similar struggle once he joins the Orange - with point guards Josh Wright and Eric Devendorf occupying SU's roster - he is excited to be staying close to home so that his family can see him play.

His mother even discussed the possibility of requesting a job transfer to Syracuse after Mayben's freshman year because she has tenure at the Albany Comptroller's office.

Whether or not Mayben earns much playing time next year, he's happy to fulfill his dream of playing for Syracuse.

"The team that's coming back is going to be hungry because they lost in the first round last year," Mayben said. "I am just looking forward to being a part of that and staying focused on the task at hand."