Nichols again making good memories at Northern Illinois

Jarvis Nichols never will forget his first basketball game at Northern Illinois University.

In March 2002 he was a sophomore competing for an underdog Glenbard North team vying for an upset against West Aurora in the Class AA supersectional.

Although he didn't play in the game, his spot on the bench gave Nichols a prime seat in good old Chick Evans Field House as Glenbard North stunned the state with a 68-65 victory to earn its first Elite Eight berth.

"That was my first time playing in front of a crowd like that," he said. "After that one of my goals was to be in a situation like that again."

Nichols is back in DeKalb for an extended performance.

Six years since his last appearance on campus, he's playing in the Convocation Center as a member of NIU's men's basketball team.

His path to Division I basketball took him from a three-year varsity career at Glenbard North, to a two-year stint in Kansas and -- finally -- to his current home in DeKalb. The journey was a long one but worth every moment.

Out of high school Nichols declined offers from bigger colleges to attend Pratt Community College in Kansas where, as a freshman, he helped lead the team into the NJCAA national tournament.

Again declining Division I offers after his freshman year at Pratt, he played another year of junior college ball before choosing among more scholarship offers. To bring his game closer to home, he chose Northern Illinois.

"I was real excited because I wanted to play at the highest level possible," he said. "My family never really got a chance to see me play in Kansas. I basically wanted to come back closer to home."

Last year turned into a learning experience for Nichols. He redshirted for the Huskies during the 2006-07 season, a move that turned out to be a good one after he broke his foot and spent four months on crutches.

He was cleared to play last summer with two years of eligibility still ahead of him.

"I felt like it was a fresh start, but I had to get back to the way I was playing before," he said. "I had to remember what I was effective at."

Groomed as a point guard during his second season at Pratt, Nichols continued down the ballhandling path with NIU. Now a junior, he shares those duties with starting Huskies point guard Michael Patton.

Nichols has started in only two of 17 games for the Huskies (5-12), but he's tied for second on the team with an average of 26 minutes played. With a 13-point performance in Tuesday's 60-58 win over Ball State, he's leading the team with 10.3 points per game.

He's also second on the team in steals and third in assists. Nichols leads the Mid-American Conference in scoring off the bench.

"It doesn't matter whether or not I start, it's what you do when you're out there," he said. "Physically, I always knew I could do this. It was a matter of being able to do it mentally."

Now that he's fulfilling the dream of playing Division I basketball, Nichols already is thinking about his next dream -- trying to continue his career at the professional level.

Another leap is the ultimate goal.

"I definitely want to keep playing," Nichols said. "I've always wanted to play at the highest level possible. I think that's every player's dream."