Published: February 17, 2000
Section: SPORTS
Page#: 01C
Back to school
By Mark Craig; Staff Writer   

Jay Pivec, men's basketball coach at Minneapolis Community & Technical College, would like to say he searched every backstreet gymnasium in the Twin Cities until he finally found little James Scheeler.

But the truth is Scheeler, the Marauders' leading scorer (15.7 points per game) and arguably their best player, "came to us out of the blue," Pivec said.

At a guard-heavy college that plays in the guard-dominated Minnesota Community College Conference, the 5-9 Scheeler somehow managed to turn an informal open-gym tryout last fall into one of the most unlikely freshman success stories Pivec has seen in his 10 seasons at MCTC.

For starters, Scheeler is 24 years old and hadn't played organized basketball beyond the St. Paul business leagues since graduating from Christ's Household of Faith (CHOF) High School in 1994. Secondly, he's still a devout member of CHOF, the St. Paul communal religious sect, where he works up to 30 hours a week as a graphics designer at the Electronic Easel, one of CHOF's many businesses.

"Playing college basketball was one of my dreams, and I finally decided to go for it," Scheeler said. "I'm getting old. At some point, I'm going to be too old to do it."

Scheeler's ultimate goal is to play another year at MCTC and earn an NCAA Division I scholarship and an opportunity to play in the NBA. Pivec is more realistic, calling Scheeler a solid Division II-caliber player.

"If it doesn't work out for me, I'm OK with that," Scheeler said. "I was perfectly happy with what I was doing before I decided to try this."

After graduating from CHOF's high school, Scheeler, the seventh of Bob and Connie Scheeler's 13 children, decided to stay home and got a job at the Electronic Easel. While some former CHOF members have described the group as a authoritarian society, Scheeler said he is free to make his own decisions.

"If you're asking whether I had to ask permission to play basketball, the answer is yes," Scheeler said. "But only because I choose to belong to a community where what I do impacts other people in the community. That's a responsibility you take when you decide to be a member of a community. It's a Christian community, and that's what I believe in, and that's how I live my life."

Scheeler said the CHOF community strongly supports his decision. In fact, he said his boss at the Electronic Easel, Michael Butler, is the person who pushed him into giving college basketball a try.

"I've never had a kid from CHOF, nor have James and I really sat down and talked about it," Pivec said. "All I know is James is a person who would make the leaders of CHOF extremely proud.

"He's a very spiritual guy without forcing it on anybody else. He's worked wonders on this team because he's so positive. The guys on this team wouldn't even think of disrespecting James in any way."

Scheeler enrolled at MCTC without any guarantee of making the basketball team. He took a full course load with an emphasis on graphic design.

Scheeler figured even if he didn't make the basketball team, he would at least become a better designer. So far, he's on track to becoming an academic All-America with a 4.0 grade-point average.

After enrolling, Scheeler asked Pivec if he could play basketball. Pivec, who remembered watching Scheeler in a three-on-three tournament in St. Paul a couple of years ago, invited him to an open gym at MCTC.

"There wasn't even an introduction," Pivec said. "James just got thrown into this quagmire of players, some of them my players, some of them students, some of them just guys off the street. There's no structure whatsoever and the play is as funky, city-type as it can possibly be."

While none of his teammates or opponents saw Scheeler as much of a player that night, Pivec was intrigued. What he saw was this quiet, expressionless rudder steering his team to victory amid a sea of out-of-control skywalkers.

"James is the steadiest player we've ever had," Pivec said. "He has the demeanor of a [John] Stockton or [a Jeff] Hornacek. He's not as good as them, of course, but that's the kind of calming influence he has."

Pivec couldn't wait to pair Scheeler in the starting backcourt with former Minneapolis Henry star Mike Pettis, a flashy, talkative sophomore who in many ways is Scheeler's opposite.

"They say in relationships opposites attract," Scheeler said with a smile. "I'm quiet. Mike does all the talking. It works."

Pettis is the point guard and Scheeler the shooting guard, although they often switch during the course of a game. Both are team captains on a team that already has clinched a spot in the MCCC Southern Division playoffs and was 16-6 entering Wednesday night's game against Rochester.

Pettis is second on the team in scoring (13.8 points) and leads in assists. Scheeler also leads in three-pointers (52), three-point shooting percentage (40.0), and is second in assists.

"James came into an arena where the talk was, `This isn't his turf, who does he think he is?,' " Pivec said. "But he made it the hard way. He proved himself."

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