UCLA recruit Shabazz Muhammad's genes a great fit for basketball Ron Holmes, then a USC basketball player, was with a buddy at a summer league basketball game in 1982 when he saw his future on the court. Watching Faye Paige play, Holmes said to his friend, "See that No. She's going to be my wife and we're going to make some All-Americans. Shabazz Muhammad has a chance to fulfill that prediction. Muhammad, Ron and Faye's 18-year-old son, is a 6-foot-6 swingman who is widely regarded as the nation's best or second-best high school senior. He's set to begin his college basketball education at UCLA in the fall, but has already been extensively home schooled on the subject. Shake his family tree and basketballs drop out. Or, as Holmes puts it: "The athletic genes were there." Holmes scored 1,211 points, 20th in school history, in four seasons at USC, and his allegiance to the Trojans has prompted some early personal ground rules about cheering for UCLA. For example, "I won't do the eight clap," he says. Also, powder blue remains out of the wardrobe. Paige, who changed her name to Faye Muhammad after converting to the Muslim faith, played for Long Beach State teams that were so good, she says, "We barely took note of the Bruins." Shabazz's aunt, Robin Holmes, played at Cal State Fullerton. She recalls UCLA being "hated," and games with Long Beach State having a family feud feel. "Faye was a very difficult person on the court," Robin says diplomatically. All three played in Pauley Pavilion and won in their final games there. All are eager to see Muhammad begin his career in what next season will be a renovated arena. Faye jokingly attributes her son's college choice to "karma." "Shabazz got a UCLA throwback jersey when he was younger and came home one day to find his dad had cut the 'UCLA' out of it," she says. I brought that up the other day. I told Ron that he should have never done that to the jersey. Holmes says his son's decision "felt a little weird," but blood is thicker than water under the bridge. "The UCLA coaches are all good guys," Holmes says. Holmes, who played at El Toro High, taught his son the game as it was passed down from his parents. Leroy and Ethel Holmes both played in high school. "This goes back a lot further than Ron and Faye," Robin Holmes says. Our mom was the matriarch. She used to take us out and school us. Robin says she has one concern about her nephew: that he will be too much like her brother. "Ron wouldn't know defense if it bit him in the butt," she says. I tried to work with Ron. It didn't help.