In an effort to promote their hot-shooting guard, the University of Texas-El Paso media relations people wisely set up a Web page for Stefon "DJ" Jackson.
You can get there the traditional way, by slogging through the school's homepage.
Or you can take the fast track Jackson thought of: www.djloveshisgrandma.com.
As much as it is an homage to Jackson's talents, the Web site also is a love note to Lena Jackson. Jackson's grandmother has served as a pillar of strength through his mountain of struggles. Just in Jackson's three years at UTEP, his brother was murdered; his own jaw got broken, leaving permanent metal plates; and his father died suddenly.
He could have quit, could have transferred or, at the very least, could have applied for a medical redshirt. Jackson opted for none of the above, choosing instead to persevere and work harder.
And now, on the other side, he has emerged as the sixth-leading scorer in the nation (averaging 23.8 points per game), a player whose 27 points nearly unraveled unbeaten Memphis earlier this month.
The Tigers are in good company. Jackson has reached the 30-point mark four times this season.
"My family, we're not quitters," Jackson said.
No one would have blamed Jackson if he had packed it in. Dealing with culture shock after trading in his hardscrabble Philadelphia neighborhood for El Paso, Jackson's world was rocked one month into his freshman season. Awoken at 3 a.m. by a knock on the door, Jackson was told his brother, Demetrick, had been shot and killed. Jackson later learned that, after taking a late-night phone call, Demetrick went out with some friends. He was on the phone in a car when someone approached the vehicle and shot him five times. No one has been arrested in the 2-year-old murder.
The murder of Demetrick -- or Me-Me, as he was called by his family -- sent the family into a tailspin. One granddaughter, Lena Jackson said, failed a semester of college, and other grandchildren also suffered academically.
Jackson's pain was more poignant.
"He was my right hand," Stefon Jackson said of his brother. "That was the other side of me, like losing half my heart."
He was my right hand. That was the other side of me, like losing half my heart.
--Stefon Jackson on losing his brother
The last thing Jackson wanted to do after burying his brother was fly back to Texas, but with his grandmother's support and then-coach Doc Sadler's encouragement, Jackson returned.
Three weeks later, during a physical practice, teammate Jason Williams intentionally slugged Jackson. His jaw broken, Jackson sat out seven games and watched his already spindly 6-foot-5 frame drop from 180 pounds to 160. Forced to slurp his dinner, he tried slicing and dicing meat, vegetables, anything that would resemble real food, but was relegated to protein shakes and Cream of Wheat.
"Man, I don't even like Cream of Wheat anymore," he said. "My stomach knots up when I smell it."
Although he said his life was dramatically altered by the punch -- "It scarred me for life," -- Jackson long ago forgave Williams. He asked Sadler not to boot or even suspend his teammate, a fact that makes Lena Jackson swell with pride more than any 30-point game would.
Sadler suggested Jackson redshirt, but he refused. He didn't return from his brother's funeral to watch. He came back to play.
He finished his freshman season, averaging a respectable 8.0 points per game.
Sadly the strife wasn't over for basketball's Job. Jackson had just started practice for his sophomore season when his mother called. Ten years earlier, Jackson's father, Vernon Bennett, had been paralyzed by a gun shot. That night the bullet moved unexpectedly, killing Bennett instantly.
Another flight home to Philly, another family member buried, Jackson asked himself what in the world was going on.
"Growing up, everyone thinks, 'Not my family. It won't happen to us,' " Jackson said. "Sometimes, though, you wake up to reality."
Stronger and older, Jackson went back to UTEP without hesitation, welcoming the cloister of the basketball family he established there. A kid who said he played basketball because the only other choice in his deteriorating Germantown neighborhood was to sell drugs, found refuge on the court.
There were changes at UTEP by then. Sadler had left for Nebraska and Tony Barbee, a John Calipari pupil, was named as coach. Barbee's coaching style, coupled with a summer of hard work, turned previously pedestrian-scoring Jackson into a force. He averaged 18.6 points per game as a sophomore, setting a sophomore school record with 16 games of 20 points or more, and led the team in scoring and rebounding (6.4 per game) and tied for steals (47 total).
"I recruited [former Memphis player] Rodney Carney. No one had ever heard of him, but he was an outstanding athlete," Barbee said. "He had to develop into a great basketball player. That's the same transition Stefon has gone through. He's a superb runner, great hand-eye coordination, but he didn't have the skill levels and this is a game of skill. You have to have some God-given talent, but you also can't be afraid of hard work. Stefon has worked very hard."
Blessed with a strong midrange game, Jackson has worked to make himself a better outside shooter but still needs to improve his 33 percent 3-point shooting. Banging the drum for a year and a half to NBA doubters, Barbee is converting the naysayers. Jackson still has work to do to become a full-fledged NBA prospect. His size will require that he improve his handle, and for all Jackson's scoring, Barbee said he still can be almost too unselfish.
But there is time. He's only a junior.
And there is motivation, plenty of it. Demetrick's name is tattooed on Jackson's shoulder, and before big games, Jackson often will tell his brother, "OK, I need you tonight."
There is also the matter of Demetrick Jackson Jr., the boy born the May after his father was killed. He'll be 2 this year.
And always, there is Lena. She will fly to UTEP for the Miners' Feb. 23 game against East Carolina.
"She's a big, big, big part of my life," Jackson said. "She keeps me level-headed, but she also keeps my strong. I'm proud of what I've been able to do. But more than that, I'm proud of my family."
Just go online to see how proud.
Dana O'Neil covers college basketball for ESPN.com and can be reached at espnoneil@live.com.