When he was a baby, Brendon Jacob Blossom got bounced around so much while playing with his two older brothers that he was "always falling down and going boom," according to his mom, Mary.
Not much has changed.
The UAA men's basketball player -- better known to fans and friends as Boomer Blossom -- is the kind of player who always seems to be hitting the floor. During a recent nonconference game against Northwest Indian College, the 6-foot-2 senior guard from Soldotna managed to get himself tangled up with an Eagles player and draw a charge within 90 seconds of entering the game.
"He just battles," said UAA coach Rusty Osborne.
Blossom has had to battle a lot during his college career. After taking a redshirt year in 2010-11, he played in just 17 games during his first season in green and gold. Stuck on the bench behind several solid guards and eager for both playing time and some Outside air, Blossom decided to transfer to Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
Blossom, 22, said the decision to transfer had little to do with discontent at UAA and more to do with a desire common in youngsters who grow up in Alaska.
"We didn't do a lot of traveling as a family," he said, explaining that the Blossom family had left Alaska exactly once -- for a Hawaii vacation -- before he arrived at UAA.
For many players, the decision to transfer usually means a bridge gets burned. That wasn't the case with UAA, where Osborne told Blossom he would be welcomed back if he chose to return.
"He left on good terms, and we wished him luck and told him to stay in touch," Osborne said.
Blossom's game grew in Minnesota, where he averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, helping his team to a 20-8 record. His mom said the experience gave him newfound confidence and helped him grow as a person.
"That was a good character-building thing for him," she said.
After spending one year in Minnesota, Blossom was ready to return home to a close-knit family of six.
"That's probably the biggest reason I came back," he said.
Mary Blossom attends every home game and said she, her husband and Boomer's little sister plan to be in Anchorage for this week's GCI Great Alaska Shootout.
"We'll cook Thanksgiving dinner somewhere," she said.
Born and raised on the Kenai Peninsula, Blossom is an avid outdoorsman who likes to hunt, fish and spend as much time as possible in the wilderness.
"He's an Alaskan boy," said Mary, whose husband, Doug, is a longtime prep basketball coach in the Soldotna area.
When Blossom returned from Minnesota, the Seawolves were happy to have him, Osborne said
"He knows his role, doesn't try to do too much," Osborne said.
Last season, Blossom was voted the team's top defensive player despite averaging about five minutes per game. He dished out 27 assists against one turnover, helping the Seawolves lead Division II with the best turnover-to-assist ratio in the nation.
"I just want to work my butt off on the defensive end," Blossom said.
Osborne said Blossom is the quintessential role player.
"He's a tough kid," Osborne said.
Blossom was able to embrace his spot near the end of the UAA bench despite a prep career in which he was often the star of the show. He helped Soldotna -- a school with about 500 students -- reach the state Class 4A title game as a junior in 2009, when the Stars fell 55-52 in an overtime classic to Dimond. The next year he was named to the all-tournament team at the state tournament while leading the Stars to a fifth-place finish. He averaged 20 points and seven boards that season, earning first-team all-Northern Lights Conference honors.
Blossom had a reputation as a hot-shooting bomber as a prep player. During his final home game as a senior, he dropped 32 points on Kenai in the second half, sparking a 70-66 come-from-behind victory over Soldotna's biggest rival.
But at UAA, he's morphed into the kind of brawling, ball-hawking scrapper no offensive player wants to draw.
"You've got to have players that embrace their role," Osborne said.
Mary Blossom said that's just her son's personality.
"He seems to play however he needs to play," she said.
Once back at UAA, Blossom was reunited with an old friend -- and foe -- in senior guard Travis Thompson. Now roommates, the two were on opposing ends of the Dimond-Soldotna clash back in 2009, and Thompson, a Lynx for life, rarely lets the former Star forget that tense night at Sullivan Arena.
"Every time we talk about high school basketball, he brings it up," Blossom said.
Good-natured ribbing aside, Blossom said he wouldn't trade his decision to attend UAA for anything.
"I've loved it here so far," he said.
Blossom plans to earn a bachelor of science in technology degree and an associates degree in fire sciences. He wants to be a firefighter, he said.
That's probably a good choice for a player whose defining characteristic is a desire to do whatever it takes to make his team better.
"I just want to help people," he said.
And there's one thing that will never change for the scrappy guard from Soldotna -- his unique moniker.
"I don't think anybody knows he even has a real name," his mom said with a laugh.
Contact Matt Tunseth at 257-4335 or mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com