Rob Lanier saw the light first and, like a religious zealot, he followed it fervently for a year.

It took him from Texas to Nevada to California to New York. It kept him up all night, pacing the house and deep in thought. He’d talk about his discovery to his wife, to his friends, to his co-workers — to anybody who’d listen.

One day, he walked into his boss’s office and told him, “Listen to me, I’ve found something that’s going to change you’re life.” Another time, he dragged his wife halfway across Texas just to visit his Mecca.

They thought he’d gone crazy. “You’re obsessed,” they’d tell him.

Then they saw T.J. Ford for themselves. Now, they’re all preaching Lanier’s gospel.

Ford is the University of Texas’ basketball savior, a magician of a sophomore point guard who can shoot, dribble, pass and walk on water. By consensus, he’s the best player in college basketball. Since enrolling at Texas in 2001, he’s turned a nondescript program into a national powerhouse. And in doing so, he’s infected a portion of the college basketball community with a sense of fanaticism that borders on worship.

Lanier, then an assistant coach at Texas, first discovered the light at an ABCD camp in 1999. Ford — a 5-foot-10 sophomore at Willowridge High School in Houston — ran the ball up court and exploded through a crowd of players for a fast-break dunk.

Lanier almost fell out of his chair.

“It was one of those moments where everything just hits you,” Lanier said. “I was amazed, captivated. After that, I really got caught up in him. Obsessed, I guess. I just made it my mission to get him to come play for us.”

From then on, where Ford went, so did Lanier. No matter that, often times, NCAA recruiting rules mandated the two could not talk. Lanier still chased Ford across the country, sometimes flying all the way to the East Coast just to give Ford a quick smile or wave.

It grew so ridiculous that sometimes Ford would see Lanier at an obscure pick-up game, look at him and laugh. Lanier would laugh back. He felt OK being a stalker, so long as he followed the light.

Lanier e-mailed Ford and his mom two or three times each day. He made a fake Sports Illustrated cover featuring the faces of President Bush, Troy Aikman and Ford. The message: You can mean as much to the state of Texas as these guys.

One afternoon, Lanier went into the office of skeptical head coach Rick Barnes and said: “This kid could make your coaching career. He could change your life.”

“Come on,” Barnes told him. “He’s not Isiah Thomas.”

“You’re right,” Lanier said. “He’s going to be better than that.”

“I knew I’d found the key to a national title,” Lanier said. “And I was absolutely obsessed with getting him for the program, for Rick and for myself.”

Meanwhile, Ford kept improving. A workaholic, he spent at least six hours in the gym each day during his junior year.

On the weekends, when the school gym was closed, he’d bring 30 of the best high school players in the area to Willowridge until head coach Ronnie Courtney showed up with the keys.

“If he wanted to get into the gym, I’d drop whatever I was doing to get over there,” Courtney said. “When you have a player that special, you don’t want to get in the way of his development.”

Ford asked other favors, too, and Courtney granted all of them. When Ford wanted to be paired with his team’s worst four players in scrimmages, Courtney consented. Essentially by himself, Ford took on the rest of the starting five and still won, once scoring 63 points in a scrimmage.

“He wanted to be the best high school player he could be,” Courtney said, “and all I wanted to do was help him.”

During Ford’s junior and senior years, Willowridge won 62 straight games and two state titles. Ford led the state in assists and steals, and the light kept spreading.

Eventually, Ford even swept Barnes off his feet. Once a doubter, Barnes went to a camp to watch Ford during his junior year. Sitting next to Kansas coach Roy Williams, Barnes’ jaw dropped as Ford repeatedly schooled Jayhawk-to-be Aaron Miles.

“Wow,” Williams said. “Looks like you guys might get a real special player.”

“I can’t believe it,” Barnes responded. “This kid will put fans in the seats.”

That same year, on the first day coaches were allowed to talk to recruits, Lanier showed up at Ford’s house at 12:01 a.m. Three hours later, he felt convinced Ford would play at Texas.

“For a few months, that was all I talked about,” Lanier said. “Because nothing else seemed worth talking about. That night had so much impact on my life.”

Ford showed up at Texas and, immediately, his gospel spread. In his first college game, he dished out 14 assists against Arizona and had the Big 12 buzzing. He took Texas to its first Sweet 16 in five years, led the country in assists and led his team in steals.

He could penetrate, pass and, sometimes, shoot. He was the most exciting player in the country, and college basketball groveled at his feet. Ford, though, wanted more.

“Every year, you have to want to get better,” Ford said. “You have to find something to work on.”

Ford found shooting, and he spent his summer launching several hundred 15-foot jumpers a day. This season, he scores 15 points a game — five more than last year — and still leads the country in assists. What’s more, he’s taken Texas to the Final Four, where it plays Syracuse on Saturday.

He’s better. His team’s better. The light is stronger.

“He’s as good and as dedicated as anybody in our league,” said Iowa State head coach Larry Eustachy.

“He has a sixth sense to know what’s going to happen on the next play that’s really magical,” said Nebraska head coach Barry Collier.

“He’s a king,” Lanier said. “He falls down, and players from both teams rush to pick him up. He’s just so special. If you’re not enamored with him, you’re either heartless, crazy or stupid.”

Or maybe you just haven’t seen the light.

Published on April 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm