MYSTERIOUS DOINGS TAKE JOY FROM MCCOY.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

At 33, Steve Lavin is a little young to have 16 children. Fortunately, he picked up a lot of sage parenting tips from his mother and father. The youngest child in a tight-knit brood of six, Lavin now is the patriarch of the UCLA men's basketball team.

Raising sextuplets couldn't be grist for any greater headaches than what Lavin has suffered since taking over for Jim Harrick.

Like his own father Cap, Lavin has stressed decorum and discipline (along with a sound defense). He has benched players for talking back to the coaching staff or for showing up late. But lately Lavin has been limited when it comes to teaching life lessons of accountability and culpability.

He is powerless to impose his values on Jelani McCoy, the problem child in the UCLA basketball family. McCoy, the Bruins' immensely talented junior center, already has been grounded, if you will, once this season. He was suspended for the team's first nine games for an undisclosed violation of school policy that reportedly consisted of failing marijuana tests.

There is reason to wonder if McCoy hasn't strayed again, though no one in Westwood is at liberty to acknowledge or dismiss the matter.

``Jelani McCoy's still on the team,'' Lavin announced Tuesday at the start of his weekly press conference, leaving unanswered the larger question: Is there any reason he shouldn't be?

If nothing is amiss, why did McCoy say, ``Who knows?'' when asked about his status after Sunday's win over Louisville? If there is no problem, why did athletic director Pete Dalis say on Tuesday that McCoy ``may play the (entire) season''?

Toward the end of McCoy's recent suspension, Lavin lavished praise on the 6-foot-10 player for the strides he had made in maturing as a person. Asked if his opinion has changed since then, Lavin said, ``I don't know if I'd say my opinion has changed. It's a difficult situation he's in.''

We presume Lavin wasn't referring to McCoy's appearance on the preseason lists for the Naismith and Wooden awards or his having to battle freshman Travis Reed for playing minutes, which begs the question: To what situation is Lavin alluding?

If everything's cool with McCoy, why did Lavin say, ``This is not a choice thing. It's not a circle-the-wagons thing. There are legal issues here.''?

What exactly those legal issues are, Lavin is not at liberty to discuss. Joseph Mandel, UCLA's vice chancellor of legal affairs, has let Lavin know in very precise language he cannot say what, if anything, McCoy has done because that is the law.

That leaves Lavin in the awkward position of preaching accountability, culpability and responsibility to his players while having to abdicate answerability to reporters. Asked if the McCoy situation was out of his hands, Lavin looked imploringly in Dalis' direction.

``How would you answer that, Pete?'' he asked.

``It's not in your hands,'' replied Dalis.

``It's not in my hands,'' repeated Lavin.

Said Mandel, ``(Lavin) is scrupulously adhering to restraints imposed on him by the California constitution.''

Lost in the labyrinth of legalese that's traceable to McCoy is the fact there's a lot of good going on with Lavin's other kids. The Bruins are off to their best start since 1994-'95. They are 15-3, with all of their losses coming away from the cozy confines of Pauley Pavilion to teams (North Carolina, Arizona and Stanford) ranked ahead of them in the polls.

Freshmen Baron Davis and Earl Watson form a precocious, ferocious backcourt. Davis has established himself as the finest point guard in the country in his class, averaging 10.9 points and 5.3 assists. He has led the team in assists in each of its past six games, averaging 6.8 in that span.

Watson, though prone to rookie mistakes, is one of only two Bruins to start all 18 games (senior Toby Bailey is the other) and is among the team leaders in minutes per game (32.7), steals (2.3) and assists (3.4).

Senior J.R. Henderson is averaging 19.3 points to lead all Pac-10 scorers. In wins last week against USC and Louisville, Henderson shot 72.7 percent from the field and had 14 rebounds.

And yet, after practice Tuesday, McCoy, who didn't even take a shot against Louisville, was the center of attention.

``We're used to controversy and the attention controversy brings,'' Bailey said with a shrug.

What the Bruins are not so accustomed to is a mopey McCoy. That, Bailey said, is a little disconcerting.

``I don't know what exactly is happening with Jelani,'' Bailey said, ``but you can tell it's taking its toll on him. He's not joking around as much as he usually does. I feel bad that he's not his happy self.''

The shame is so many people affiliated with UCLA no longer are sure what to feel.