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CINCINNATI -- During an idle moment before a human development class, two University of Cincinnati students struck up a conversation about the basketball team's new point guard.
They weren't interested in his statistics or accomplishments. They couldn't get past his name: Jihad Muhammad.
"I heard one person say, 'Isn't that supposed to mean holy war or something?'" said Anwar Salahuddin, a junior sitting nearby.
It wasn't the first time someone had wondered aloud about the distinctive name. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the dreadlocked point guard from New Jersey has wound up explaining himself to fans who think the worst.
"They're like, 'Ooh, Jihad,'" said Muhammad, sitting in an interview room off the Bearcats' court after practice. "It's just the name, just the word that's scaring people. They really don't have a good understanding of it."
Few know what it's like to be a high-profile Muslim player in a country where insecurity rises and falls with color-coded alerts. The NCAA doesn't keep track of religious affiliation, so there's no count of Muslim players. Only a handful play major-college basketball.
Muhammad grew up in an Islamic community and attended Plainfield High School in New Jersey. The most unusual thing about his upbringing was the size of his family _ six brothers, seven sisters. He was the youngest boy.
"Basically, you learn to share," he said. "You learn how to relate to different personalities. Before I left home, I learned how to relate to 13 personalities."
That was nothing compared to the adjustment at San Jacinto Junior College in Texas. He developed into the top-rated point guard in junior college, learning to use his speed and long-range shot to full advantage.
He also learned about culture shock. In his first year, he met one other Muslim.
"That was real difficult," he said. "It was an adjustment I had to make within myself. I had to make a lot of prayers in my room or in the hotel when we were on the road."
His play attracted the attention of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins, who desperately needed a point guard. Huggins quickly grew fond of Muhammad and his sincerity, dedication and eagerness to do well.
"He's a great kid," Huggins said. "He wants to be a good player. He listens, he tries."
Things have been much easier off the court in Cincinnati, where Muhammad is a junior majoring in criminal justice and finding out what it's like to be a prominent player on a basketball-crazed campus.
The Bearcats won back-to-back national championships in 1961-62. Huggins revived the program in 1989 and has coached the Bearcats to a Final Four and 13 straight NCAA tournament appearances, the third-longest streak in the country.
They were talking _ and wondering _ about Muhammad long before he arrived.
"I thought, 'Wow, I've never heard of any one person who had that name before,'" said Justin Shafer, a senior accounting and finance major who attends most games and is president of the student government. "Then I started looking at his stats and what he had done in junior college.
"I think some students were skeptical at first, as I was. We're all realizing what Islam is, and we need to realize it's a peaceful religion."
Muhammad doesn't mind sharing his story.
"A lot of people sort of stray from their religion," said Salahuddin, a health promotion major from Philadelphia who has become a close friend. "He was open about it. He even told Huggins when he first got here that it was a big part of him."
About 75 students are active in the student Muslim association, former president Rasheed Shamma said. The atmosphere on campus is cordial _ only a couple of hateful comments were made on campus after the 2001 attacks.
"Immediately after 9/11, there was less openness from the community," said Shamma, a senior majoring in industrial engineering. "Overall, there's been a positive effect. People are more open to it than before."
They're also learning what Jihad means.
"It's a struggle within yourself, not from me to you," Muhammad said. "It's a struggle to overcome wrongdoing. When I can correct it, I correct it. It's frequent, but I hope it's contagious. I hope I tell one person and they tell somebody else and we can kill the disease."
His father converted to Islam in 1959 and chose his son's name as a reflection of his spiritual state at the time.
"It means struggle," Ahmad Muhammad said, from his home in New Jersey. "At the time he was born (in 1984), that signified what I was going through, the changes I was going through."
His son hasn't heard any slurs at games, but that doesn't mean prejudice is gone. At a home game early this season one Cincinnati booster yelled an ethnic slur when Valparaiso's Ali Berdiel fouled out.
As the season went along, Muhammad found himself more openly accepted. Before one game, UC students held up a sign that read, "Thank God (Allah) For Jihad."
"I liked that," Muhammad said, a smile flowing across his face. "That was a lot of love right there. It made me warm when I saw that. It made me want to come out and play harder."
NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson sits courtside for his alma mater's games. He appreciates the point guard's impact.
"I don't know where they'd be without him, I really don't," Robertson said. "He's done a tremendous job. I wish he could do a lot more."
Muhammad has struggled on the court lately. His defense and jumper have been erratic, prompting Huggins to drop him from the starting lineup. Muhammad made only 22.5 percent of his shots during a four-game stretch, dropping his average to 9.8 points and 2.8 assists per game.
Robertson, who endured racial slurs and segregation while growing up, senses that the community has embraced Muhammad, his name and his tied-back dreadlocks. Now, fans are more concerned with how he performs than with what he's called.
"I don't think anyone that goes to the games has any ill will toward Jihad," Robertson said. "I think they love him. I wish he'd shoot a lot more and take it to the basket more."
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