As the freshman center bolted onto the court with just more than a minute left in MSU's Feb. 7 game against Ohio State, the in-house announcer said "now entering the game, Justin Oak-er-man."

But that's the way Ockerman, pronounced the way it looks, Ock-er-man, likes it. He doesn't expect to be as well-known as Paul Davis or Chris Hill. He doesn't even expect to be recognized.

Take, for instance, Ockerman's best game in an MSU uniform - two points and two rebounds in just four minutes of action against Duke. His teammates respect the things he brings to the court, not the things he doesn't.

"In practice, he's in there the whole time running the scout team, and sometimes he flips over to the green team with (the starters)," senior center Jason Andreas said. "He does such a good job. The thing about Justin is he's got such a big body, he's strong, he's mature."

Of course, much of that maturity comes from being a 21-year-old freshman. Ockerman is a veteran athlete by college standards - he has been in the Seattle Mariners' baseball organization for the past three years.

In high school, he was a two-sport star, playing both baseball and basketball. It wasn't until he was a sixth-round pick out of high school that he made up his mind.

"Baseball was the option out of high school, so I just decided to go with that," said Ockerman, who throws a 94 mph fastball. "I'd go back and forth from year to year - whatever I was playing I liked most."

It wasn't that he was getting tired of playing single-A ball, but Ockerman said he wanted to add a college degree to his credentials.

And in going to college, he asked himself, why not get back into basketball?

"We just said, 'We'd love to have you,'" MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "We didn't know too much about him. I still think he's going to stick with baseball this summer - see how that goes - but I don't think it's a one-year deal."

The Seattle Mariners organization is paying for Ockerman's enrollment at MSU, Izzo said.

Neither Ockerman nor Izzo realized once Ockerman was in East Lansing how necessary it would be to have the 6-foot-9, 265-pound center step in right away.

Starting the season, sophomore center Davis and Andreas were the only experienced bodies down low, and redshirt freshman Delco Rowley and freshman Drew Naymick had yet to play in a regular-season game. Ockerman's size and maturity enabled him to quickly learn MSU's system and be a factor in the post.

"We didn't know if he'd be ready to play basketball, didn't know how he was going to be on the court," junior guard Kelvin Torbert said. "But he's been a big thing for us. He helps us a lot on the scout team and also brings a big body in practice to simulate."

In order to leave any sort of legacy at MSU, he knows he has to do it in a way other than putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game.

"Everybody has the pie-in-the-sky dream of what you want to accomplish, and he's kind of dealt with the other side of it - that it's not so easy to get there," Izzo said. "Somebody just doesn't come out and become a superstar."

Ockerman's recent demeanor in practice has really impressed Izzo. The coach said if he had to play one big man because of how he's practiced, coupled with attitude and grit, he would put in "J.O."

And proof of Izzo's confidence was displayed Tuesday night during MSU's 62-55 win over Purdue. Ockerman entered the game with 13:15 left in the first half. About a minute later, Ockerman rose up and grabbed a big rebound. Another minute later, he drew an offensive foul on Boilermakers forward Ije Nwankwo.

"I was sad that I didn't get to play the rest of our guys, but I just decided that I was going to go with someone who was going to knock someone on their butt because you know we were going to get knocked on ours," Izzo said.

Ockerman hopes his work on the court pays off in the long run.

"It's been a good start for me," he said. "Just rebounding and doing the grunt work - doing the little stuff that's got to get done. Hopefully, I can earn my minutes down the road."