CSUN BASKETBALL: RESURRECTION FOR EFEVBERHA INCIDENT LED FORWARD TO CSUN, WHERE HE HAS FLOURISHED.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne  Staff Writer

It was a lonely Thursday night. The Cal State Northridge men's basketball team had an exhibition game against Cal State Los Angeles the following night.

Mike Efevberha couldn't sleep. There was nothing on television. His mind wandered. So he wandered. Down to the Northridge gym, basketball in hand.

He worked on his shot for a few hours. Then his ballhandling. It was getting late. But there was no other place he would rather be.

The gym is where he goes to focus his mind singularly on basketball and escape those parts of his past he's trying to put behind him. As college facilities go, the Matadome isn't exactly top of the line. But for Efevberha, it has been like a sanctuary.

In February 2004, Efevberha (pronounced Eh-FEE-brah) was dismissed from the UC Irvine team following an on-campus incident in which he stole a backpack from a female student. He plead guilty to petty theft, paid a $425 fine and performed community service.

``I regret it every day since it happened,'' he said. ``Just the look on the face of my family and friends was devastating to me. ... but I've been given a second chance here and I want to show people I'm a different man.''

He will confront his past when Northridge plays at UC Irvine at 7 tonight at the Bren Events Center. He expects jeers from the crowd. But he also wants to hear them.

In his first 12 games at Northridge, Mike Efevberha the basketball player has been spectacular. He leads the Big West Conference and is tied for 18th in the country in scoring, averaging 21.7 points per game.

But right now, he's most concerned with Mike Efevberha the person.

``I wanted to confront it, and for people to see I'm a different person now, and the caliber of player I could be,'' he said.

After the incident, details on what actually happened were sketchy, opening the door to speculation and rumors. One story has Efevberha trying to use a credit card from the stolen backpack. Another has him using a bus pass. He denies both of these allegations.

``The people that don't really know what happened, and just go off the rumors, I think they'll always go off the rumors,'' he said. ``But the people that really knew me, they know what type of person I really am.''

After being dismissed from the team, Efevberha enrolled at Azusa Pacific, but continued to live in Irvine. After two weeks at the NAIA school, he could tell the level of competition wasn't high enough.

So he called Northridge coach Bobby Braswell.

``People will make mistakes and you have to make a decision of whether you think they're redeemable, whether they're worthy of it, and we felt that Mike was the kind of kid that was worthy of that,'' Braswell said. ``He's very mature, one of the most mature players I've ever coached.''

At Northridge, Efevberha fit in with the team immediately. He attended most of the Matadors' games last year, while he took classes at Orange Coast College. He called Braswell before games to wish the team luck.

During the summer, he came to open gyms to get a feel for his new teammates. He started attending church with Braswell.

``He's a real leader for us,'' senior point guard Bakari Altheimer said. ``He plays hard every night, and brings so much energy. You love to have a guy like that on your team.''

As the conference's leading scorer, he's beginning to draw double- and triple-teams from opposing defenses, and taunts from opposing fans.

``Our people aren't like that,'' UC Irvine coach Pat Douglass said. ``If he gets attention, it will be because he's the leading scorer in the conference.''

Still, Efevberha said he's trying to approach this like any other game. Expect to see him late Thursday night in the Matadome, working on his game.

Ramona Shelburne, [phone]

ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

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CSUN's Mike Efevberha leads the Big West conference in scoring at 21.7 points per game, 18th-best in the country.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News