Rumor has it that living in the shadows of a famous sibling or parent can be a bit of a burden.

I suppose a lot of that would depend on the sibling or parent and whether or not they're a "good famous'' or that other thing we call "infamous,'' which is not so good.

I get the impression that 18-year-old Michael Collison thinks the sun rises and sets on his older brother, Nick, 29, who is in his sixth NBA season after missing his first year out of Kansas University due to shoulder surgery.

What I mean is that I don't believe Michael minds being identified as Nick's younger brother. I don't think he minds being identified as the younger brother of his 31-year-old sister, Katie, either.

Still, this just might be a good time to establish some boundaries on how often Michael, a freshman at Briar Cliff, will require further introduction as the brother of Nick, a 6-10, 255-pound forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were the Seattle SuperSonics for 41 seasons before last year.

Suffice it to say, I can't promise to leave Nick's name out of things from here on out. After all, even the most faithful reader deserves a few more chances to make this connection before anything Michael does is pretty much always about Michael and no one else.

Wednesday night, after scoring 14 points in just nine minutes while playing in his first home game for BC, I got the distinct impression this young man won't have too much difficulty establishing his own identity.

And, I know things won't always be as easy as they were against Peru State, which did little defensively to stop him from putting together a personal 10-0 run in the space of a minute and 49 seconds. However, for a 6-10, 230-pound freshman playing NAIA Division II hoops, it's safe to say Michael has a pretty fair upside.

Wednesday's fun notwithstanding, it will probably take some time. As luck would have it, this isn't an impatient individual with unrealistic expectations. Nor is this a Briar Cliff team that feels compelled to rush any of several talented players in a strong freshman group.

"I didn't really even like basketball until my brother was a junior at KU (2001-02),'' said Michael. "My parents will tell you, when I was in third grade, I gave up playing basketball for Lent.''

It wasn't hard to give up, little as he cared. Nick was a freshman at Kansas, coming off a prep career in which his teams went 101-1, winning back-to-back state titles (1998 and '99) after having a perfect 1996-97 campaign ruined by a first-round state tournament loss to Mount Pleasant.

"My brother and I both developed really late,'' said Michael. "At the beginning of eighth grade, I was maybe 5-10. At the start of my sophomore year, I was 6-7.''

Dave Collison, a former Briar Cliff hoopster who coached his elder son's state championship teams, gave up the Iowa Falls High School coaching reins to follow Nick's career at Kansas.

To me, I might add, it will remain one of the more remarkable stories in Iowa sports history that Nick became the 12th pick and West's Kirk Hinrich, Nick's KU teammate, was the No. 7 choice in a very special 2003 NBA draft that included LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade.

Lingering shoulder problems forced Nick to undergo surgery and miss his first NBA season while Michael, a seventh-grader, decided to give basketball another shot.

"I didn't really start playing until then,'' said Michael. "Our seventh-grade team was one of the worst ever. We won two games. In eighth grade, we were maybe a .500 team. Then, we got a little better in high school.''

For his final two seasons at Iowa Falls, Michael even persuaded Dad to volunteer his services as an assistant coach. The youngest son responded last winter with 14.9 points and 10.5 rebounds a game, tops in both categories for a team that finished 16-6 after losing a Class 3A district final to Carroll.

Michael knows it will take hard work and continued progress to tap into his full potential. He also knows that two juniors, 6-6, 238-pound James Larson and 6-7, 240-pound Kyle Swanson, are in front of him in the post position.

So, Wednesday night, when his uncle, the Rev. Craig Collison, was handling the public address chores, as he does for many Briar Cliff and Bishop Heelan activities, Michael was grateful just to hear Father Craig say his name a few times.

"All the credit goes to those guys (Larson, Swanson and others who helped BC gain a big lead and eventually empty the bench) for giving me a chance to get in,'' said the modest frosh.

Like I said, Michael's going to be just fine.