"He has absolutely no idea how good he can be," said Porter. "In high school, he seemed to get bored or distracted when we were playing lesser teams, and I often had to get on him hard at halftime to push himself, get him to work harder and then watch him respond by going out in one game scoring 35 points in the second half. He'd say he was sorry afterwards."

Porter recalls how Nelson single-handedly took over important games for a section-game-record 52 points and another contest for 55 points. Porter said if Nelson were consistently self-motivated, Modesto Christian would have gone to two state championships.

"He's just so young, younger than his body would suggest," said Porter about the Modesto Bee's All-District MVP who turned just 18 in September. "If he can stay focused and learn, he'll be something greater than he imagined."