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His endorsement-in-waiting smile, B-Easy nickname, love of SpongeBob SquarePants and the desire to make everyone laugh – it all belies the intensity of the mission Kansas State freshman power forward Michael Beasley is on.

It's a mission that took him from the drug- and crime-infested neighborhood near Washington, D.C., where he grew up in with a single mom and four siblings, to the same mentor, Taras "Stink" Brown, who schooled Kevin Durant on basketball fundamentals.

It's a mission that took Beasley to six high schools in four states – five of them private academies with powerhouse hoops programs – before taking his lefty shooting touch and ability to score from anywhere on the court to Kansas State.

Beasley, 19, doesn't hide that he chose a college he had never even visited because of a close friendship with his former AAU assistant coach, Delonte Hill, who may have gotten an assistant coaching job at K-State last season because of his ability to deliver Beasley.

Hill was an assistant for three seasons at UNC-Charlotte, where Beasley initially committed. But then-Kansas State coach Bob Huggins offered Hill a job, and Beasley came with him.

"I'm here because of Delonte," Beasley said. "I think everyone wants to go to college with someone they can trust and someone who has their back, and Delonte has nothing but that."

Durant has been good friends with Beasley since they were 11 years old. Since they were doing crab walks the length of the floor at the Seat Pleasant Recreation Center just outside of Washington, D.C., under the watchful eye of Brown.

Brown, 43, refused to let his hoops prodigies play in pick-up games because he didn't want them to form bad habits. Instead, Brown spent hours schooling them in form shooting, rebounding and dribbling drills and making them run.

"It was crazy," Beasley said. "Taras had me and Kevin outside running sprints with a parachute on our backs."

Said Brown, "If Michael continues to work, there's no limit for him, just like Kevin."

Like Durant, Beasley showed his on-court intensity first-hand to Oklahoma fans in Norman on Saturday night. Durant had 60 points and 23 rebounds in two Longhorns victories over OU last season. Beasley scored 32 on Saturday, including the game-winning basket with 2.3 seconds left in an 84-82 victory. The Wildcats are 11-4 and next face 11th-ranked Texas A&M at home on Saturday.

"He makes the game look easy," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said of Beasley, who already has six 30-point games and averages 24.8 points and a nation-leading 13.1 rebounds. "He reminds me of Derrick Coleman, a guy that used to play for Syracuse and was the No. 1 pick. Effortless."

For the record, Beasley prefers comparisons to another ex-Syracuse player – Carmelo Anthony.

"He's 6-8, 240. He's got the face-up game, he posts up, he shoots 3s," Beasley said of Anthony while basically describing his own game.

After beating OU, Beasley was back in his off-court, B-Easy alter-ego. The constant clown who once won a dunk contest wearing a SpongeBob hat. He described freshman point guard Jacob Pullen's drive that set up Beasley's game-winning basket as "gorgeous."

AP

Michael Beasley (left) and Kansas State are 11-4 and face Texas A&M on Saturday.

About his instant classic matchup with OU's 6-10, 240-pound freshman power forward Blake Griffin, who had 27 points and 14 rebounds, Beasley quipped, "Man, that is a big boy."

"He is a great player," added Beasley, who is 6-9 and 235 pounds. "It ended up being the battle of the beasts. He is my guy. In basketball, there are no friends on the court, but we will always be friends after the game."

Both players may well be playing their only college basketball season. At least that seemed to be the suggestion of first-year K-State coach Frank Martin in his postgame remarks.

"We should be allowed to watch those two guys compete against each other and play at a high level like they do [for more than one season]," Martin said. They should be able to come out there and just represent their schools like they do.

"Those two kids, both young puppies, to play and lead their teams like they do – people should look into that and try to figure out a way to get the NBA out of our business."

Of course, if the NBA hadn't instituted a rule two years ago requiring NBA rookies be 19 or at least one year out of high school, Beasley and Griffin might not be playing college ball at all.

Beasley doesn't respond to questions about if he'll jump to the NBA after this season. He does, however, hear the talk about how he could be the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft if he comes out.

"It is hard to ignore it," he said. "But I try. I don't want to get caught up in all that. That's great news, and it's not easy to stay humble. So I just try not to listen and feed into all that talk."

Martin, who was promoted to head coach when Huggins left after one season for West Virginia, says Beasley is just scratching the surface of his talent.

"I think Mike can eventually become a big-time defender because he's got all the intangibles," Martin said. "He's got the mind to do it, the toughness and the athletic ability.

"Offensively, he's still learning to score. Like most big kids when they're young, they score at the rim based on brute strength. Now, Mike is getting double- and triple-teamed, so he's learning to score using angles and skill rather than brute strength."

Playing last season at Texas, Durant became the first freshman to win national player of the year honors. Beasley could be the second. They still text message and talk regularly.

"Now that the Big 12 is starting, Kevin told me I've got to turn it up to a new level," Beasley said.

So far, Beasley has made it look easy.

B-Easy.

School: Kansas State

Pos.: Power forward

Ht.-Wt.: 6-9, 235

Class: Freshman

Age: 19

Notable: Opened his college career with 32 points and 24 rebounds in a win against Sacramento State, followed by 30 points and 14 rebounds in a win against Pittsburg State. ... Like friend Kevin Durant, Beasley was the MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game. ... He was the top-ranked player in the country coming out of high school, according to Rivals.com. ... His mother, Fatima Smith, writes a blog for the Wichita Eagle newspaper. ... He has two brothers and two sisters.

Texas A&M at Texas Tech, 8:30 p.m., Wednesday (ESPN2): First-year A&M coach Mark Turgeon and the 11th-ranked Aggies try to spoil Bob Knight's second attempt to claim victory No. 900.

Oklahoma at Kansas, 8 p.m., tonight (ESPN): The Sooners try to bounce back from a heartbreaking home loss to Kansas State by attempting to steal a win at Allen Fieldhouse.

Oklahoma State at Baylor, 7 p.m., Tuesday (FSNSW): Bears playing second straight Big 12 game at home before heading out on the road.

Texas A&M at Kansas St., 3 p.m., Saturday (ESPN): Two of the league's top freshmen ­ K-State's Michael Beasley and A&M's DeAndre Jordan ­ go at it.

Colorado at Texas, 7 p.m., Saturday (ESPN Plus): Longhorns trying to regroup after being throttled at Missouri.