George Lawson had his son dribbling figure-eights at the age of 5. He would get on his knees to play Ty one-on-one on the preschool-sized basket he and his wife, Jacqueline, set up in their house at Andrews Air Force Base.

By the time Ty had reached elementary school in Clinton, Md., Lawson paced him through "commando" dribbling drills, ordering full-speed crossovers and other moves with the bark of a father's command. Their one-on-one games were played full court, and every turnover earned Ty -- who is at North Carolina this season as a heralded freshman point guard -- a suicide sprint.

So even when he could not reach a height of 5 feet without a hop, Ty had little difficulty silencing the grumblings of the airmen and other enlisted guys on the Washington, D.C.-area base who did not want to play with the 12-year-old.

"When he first started playing over there, they said, 'He's too young to play,' " said George Lawson, 44, who retired from the Air Force as a Tech. Sgt. and now works evenings as a security guard at the U.S. Department of State. "But then they started picking him first and saying, 'Yeah, we'll take the little man.' "

By the end of his junior year at Oak Hill Academy, everyone wanted the little man, who was by then the top-rated point guard in the 2006 recruiting class. Built like a tailback with broad shoulders and muscular legs carved during years of sprints up his neighborhood park's steep, grassy hill -- another favorite drill ordered up by Dad -- Ty had the physical gifts that left recruiting analysts and college coaches in awe.

Between tot and top recruit, there were countless hours spent honing those natural talents. And Lawson's work is not yet done. On a loaded Tar Heels team ranked second by AP, no one has conceded him the starting job, not even after he had 15 points and three assists in 14 minutes in Saturday's exhibition win over Pfeiffer.

Lawson's combination of speed, strength and scoring lured UNC coach Roy Williams to Oak Hill's campus outside Mouth of Wilson, Va., less than two days after the Heels won the 2005 NCAA title. Lawson's signing with UNC later that summer sparked comparisons with Raymond Felton, the jet-quick point guard on Williams' title team.

Oak Hill coach Steve Smith calls the 5-11 Lawson the strongest and quickest guard he has coached, topping a list of high school stars that includes longtime NBA point guard Rod Strickland, and 2006 NBA first-round picks Rajon Rondo and Marcus Williams.

On Monday, Williams declined to name his starting point guard for tonight. He earlier had said Lawson was not an automatic choice, however, to supplant sophomore Bobby Frasor.

"He's not the anointed one," Williams said last month of Lawson. "He's got to win it. And again, the guy he's trying to win it from led us to 23 wins last year, and he's not exactly chopped liver himself."

UNC does not allow freshmen players to talk with the media until after their first regular-season game. George Lawson said he has no problem with Williams challenging his son.

"You can't accomplish anything if you don't go hard, if you don't put your heart and soul in it," he said.

A dad's dream

The Lawsons have kept stacks of videotapes chronicling their only child's basketball exploits in a collection of cardboard boxes in the basement of their suburban, D.C.-area home. The tapes date back to his elementary-school days, and on most, you can hear Jacqueline Lawson whooping and cheering on her son.

If Jacqueline Lawson was the cheerleader, her husband was frequently the coach.

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