Mac Peterson does things the right way on and off the court.

On the hardwood, he's a cerebral player with a penchant for making the big shot. In the classroom, he has always taken care of business, being a Division One qualifier directly out of high school.

Now the 6-foot-3 sharpshooter has cast his lot with San Jose State, signing a letter-of-intent to play basketball for Coach George Nessman and the Spartan men's basketball team.

A graduate of Deer Valley High in Antioch (Calif.), Peterson was a solid but not an eye-popping player in the prep ranks, besides being a second-team, all-state high jumper. He received recruiting interest from a number of schools, including San Jose State, as a prep senior but decided to take his game to the junior college ranks--Diablo Valley College (DVC) and Coach Steve Coccimiglio in particular--for a season and then see what transpired.

"My high school coach Eric Bamberger (the 10th leading scorer in St. Mary's history) told me "DVC would be a good place for me," Peterson said. "The plan was always to explore my options after one season. I played a lot of point as a high school senior because that's what was needed so I deferred on my shooting and maybe that effected my recruitment."

So Peterson headed to Pleasant Hill to become a Viking, along with forward Brandon Adams, a graduate of San Ramon Valley High in nearby Danville. "We sort of made a pact," Peterson said. Adams also turned out to be one of Diablo Valley's top scorers.

Peterson's decision proved to be a wise and fruitful one.

He was recently named the most valuable player of the Big Seven Conference and also garnered a spot as a member of this season's California first-team all-state community college squad. The Diablo Valley Vikings ended the season with a 27-6 record, winning the Big Seven Conference and finishing 10th in the state.

On a defensive-oriented DVC team containing three double figure scorers, Peterson averaged 12.8 ppg. overall. This, coming on 44% shooting from the floor, .472 from three-point range (86-180) and .889 from the foul line (80-90).

As the season progressed in conference play, he was even better, averaging 14.0 ppg. on .514 three-point shooting and .909 with his free throw opportunities.

Overall, he also averaged 3.4 assists each time out and grabbed 3.0 rebounds per contest.

Asked the differences between high school and junior college basketball, Peterson said, "The junior college players are much stronger, a lot more physical and the speed of the game is so much faster."

Here's Diablo Valley Coach Steve Coccimiglio on Peterson: "He not one of those kids who immediately passes the eyeball test, not being an explosive athlete and he was never a big standout in summer tournaments and camps where one-on-one play and selfishness are the norm but he is an intelligent young man with an innate ability to hit big shots."

Coccimiglio added, "Mac is most productive within a system as he's excellent coming off screens and cuts--he just knows how to play."

Spartan fans may recall that Jaycee Carroll, a first-team all-WAC backcourter with Utah State, employs a similar style of running the baseline, utilizing single and double screens and spotting up from long distance.

So San Jose State remained interested in Peterson and kept a watchful eye on him as he stood out in junior college play during his freshman season. When he visited the SJSU campus on a recruiting trip, 6-foot-10 Spartan redshirt sophomore Chris Oakes was his player host. They were familiar with each other--as Peterson put it, "Chris and I played together in the past."

He liked what he saw a decided to come aboard.

A veteran of summer club basketball, Peterson played for the Lakeshow and Nor Cal Elite teams among others. This experience gave him a measuring stick of his talent level. "The summer tournaments and games provided me the first awareness of my D-1 potential because I saw the other talent and knew I could play," Peterson said.

Asked his best skills, Peterson replied, "3-point shooting and shooting overall."

Conversely, what he is working on is "adding strength and improving stopping opponents defensively."

Petersen lauded both his most recent coaches. "Having Eric Bamberger as a high school coach, someone who played D-1 basketball, was immensely helpful," Peterson said. He added, "Coach Coccimiglio is a great, great coach, I've learned so much from him."

Now, he's a Spartan and a quality addition to San Jose State's backcourt.