Louisiana Tech senior James Loe fished along the Kenai River so much when he was younger it actually got him into trouble at basketball practice earlier this season.

Loe was raised in Palmer and moved to Oregon with his parents when he was 15. His parents' are Louisiana Tech alums, as is NBA legend Karl Malone, who joined Louisiana Tech this season as its strength and conditioning coach and director of basketball promotions. However, he was unable to attend this year's Shootout.

The former Utah Jazz forward owns a cabin on the Kenai River. So naturally he and Loe had plenty of Alaska tales to share.

But one day Loe shared too much.

"I saw his cabin one time and actually fished his spot," Loe said. "He's got a little spot that says 'no trespassing.' So I told him about it."

The Mailman wasn't amused, so he delivered punishment.

"He made me run extra for that," Loe said.

Loe said it was worth the pain. He misses Alaska for its fishing, snowboarding, hunting and northern lights -- but mostly the fishing on the Talkeetna and Kenai rivers.

"Fishing in Oregon is terrible," he said. "That's why I'm coming back in August and September for silvers."

Loe wanted to spend Wednesday plowing through some "freshies" on a snowboard in Girdwood when Alyeska Resort opened for the season. But he would have had to rent a board, hitch a ride and sneak back in time for Louisiana Tech's 5 p.m. game against Seattle University.

"I wish coach would have let us," he said.

But at least the Bulldogs visited Alaska in style. Their booster club gave every player a Carhartts jacket embroidered with Louisiana Tech's logo and sponsor names.

It was coach Kerry Rupp's idea.

"Coach was trying to get us fur jackets," Loe said. "But he's from Utah, so he knows how to dress in this weather."

Loe played for Eastern Washington his first year of college. Then his coach took a job at the University of Utah as an assistant to head coach Rick Majerus. Rupp was also a Utah assistant.

Loe said he was recruited by Majerus, but transferred to Louisiana Tech as a junior when Rupp took the job last season.

"I've come a long, long way," Loe said. "You've got to when you come from Alaska."

Six degrees of Malone

So who else has Malone ties in Alaska?

Apparently all sorts of Alaskans -- including two Alaska governors.

But let's start with Leah Stepovich, a redshirt on the UAA women's basketball team. The Fairbanks native is the niece of former Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton, the NBA's all-time leader in assists who formed one of the league's most unbeatable guard-forward combinations with Malone.

Nada Stockton is Leah's aunt and John's wife. John and Nada met in 1982 at Gonzaga University -- whose men's basketball team finished third at last year's Shootout -- and were married shortly thereafter.

Nada's father, Mike Stepovich, was Alaska's former territorial governor.

On Saturday, Gov. Sarah Palin watched the Shootout's seventh-place men's game between UAA and Louisiana Tech from the blue VIP seats. Earlier this month, she and John McCain carried Malone's home state of Utah.

"She was here?" Loe said. "That's awesome."

Name game

Two teams at the Shootout changed their nicknames in recent years to achieve political correctness: The Chieftains of Seattle University became the Redhawks in 2000 out of deference to Native Americans who protested the nickname and the school's use of an Indian-head logo; the Orangemen of Syracuse became the Orange in 2004 out of deference to women who also wore the school's uniforms.

San Diego State, however, is still the home of the Aztecs.

The school dumped its mascot -- the red-faced, loin-cloth-wearing, spear-throwing Monty Montezuma -- but it kept the nickname due to popular demand.

In 2000, one-quarter of the school's students showed up to vote in an election to help decide the fate of the nickname, and 95 percent of the voters said keep it.

Then came the NCAA's 2005 ban of Native American nicknames and mascots, which goes into full effect this school year.

A handful of teams were given exemptions, including San Diego State. The school argued successfully that the Aztecs were Mexican, not Native American -- and additionally, the NCAA said it tried and failed to find an organized tribe or group related to the Aztecs.

Maybe that's because in the 1500s, the culture was all but wiped out by Spanish conquistadors.

Cheechako alert

Michael Freeman of Hampton University had just logged 36 minutes Friday night in the Pirates' overtime victory over Portland State at Sullivan Arena.

His mind probably wasn't functioning at full speed. Even so, his answer to a reporter's question was pretty funny for all of you sea-level Anchorage folks,

Asked if he was worn out, Freeman replied:

"Oh yeah, this altitude is crazy."

Fan misses $1 million but gets a good haul

Eddie Pili is a man on the go thanks to the Shootout.

Pili, the fan selected to take the $1 million shot at the halftime of Saturday's championship game, missed his chance at the big bucks.

His three-quarters-court-length shot failed miserably, bouncing a couple times before reaching the end of the gym floor.

He missed his halfcourt shot too, which would have earned him a new PT Cruiser.

Given the chance at other prizes, though, Pili came through three times by netting three shots from behind the 20-foot, 9-inch 3-point line.

He sank a shot worth a 2004 Ford Explorer from Vito's Auto Sales. He sank a shot worth 25,000 airlines miles (from the Insurance Group of Alaska) and a $1,000 gift certificate from Alaska Business Interiors. And he sank a shot worth $1,000 in cash from Vehicle One and CH2M Hill.

So he can drive his new car to the airport, cash in his miles for a trip somewhere warm, and take a thousand dollars worth of spending money with him.

Pili, 43, works at the Hotel Captain Cook and for 15 years has coached basketball at the YMCA and football at Boys and Girls Club, "to keep kids off the streets," he said.

Fans of Alaska high school sports might recognize Pili's name. He's the uncle of Barrow girls basketball star Piggi Pili, last season's Class 3A Player of the Year.

Pili said he didn't get any shooting tips from Piggi, but his Barrow relatives wished him good luck in his quest for a million dollars.

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