FRESNO — Rafer Alston's shining moment should be at hand. Doubters coast to coast said he'd never get this far, running the point at Fresno State and bringing a dizzying dose of New York City street ball to national television audiences.
Watch Alston pass for 25 assists in two games this week and even the harshest critics would agree that his bold decision three years ago to bolt from New York--with its playground hoop hierarchy and roiling temptations--for laid-back Ventura College appears to have paid off.
Evident in the marginally controlled mayhem of Fresno State are the confidence and ball-handling skills Alston developed trolling the subways and surfacing for pickup games with Stephon Marbury, Jerry Stackhouse and the like.
Yet, despite trading asphalt for hardwood, Alston hasn't shaken the street from his shoes.
Sure, he led Ventura to the junior college state championship in 1995, but he was kicked off the team for bashing a sleeping teammate in the groin with a metal weight.
Sure, he proved college classwork isn't beyond his capabilities by following a shaky academic performance at Ventura with two solid years at Fresno City College, but his violent actions escalated.
Alston, 21, was convicted twice recently on misdemeanor battery charges. In October, 1996, he beat up a neighbor who complained about his loud music and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service. Last month, Alston was convicted of punching his former girlfriend, Rachel Henderson, and knocking her to the ground outside the Fresno State weight room.
The judge in the latter case, Ed Williams, had stern words upon sentencing Alston to three years probation, 100 hours of community service, a $200 fine and a one-year domestic counseling program.
Williams held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart and told Alston: "You came that close to losing the basketball season this year. You came that close to going to jail in the basketball season."
After the second battery conviction, Coach Jerry Tarkanian suspended Alston for two exhibitions and the opener. Alston, a junior, has been in the lineup since, averaging 10 points and 6.4 assists.
Fresno State Athletic Director Al Bohl, already besieged by complaints that the basketball program has spun out of control since Tarkanian took over in 1995, made it clear that Alston has run out of chances.
"Rafer recognizes he's made a most dramatic mistake," Bohl said. "He is at a point where he can't make any more mistakes."
