Quinton Crawford grew up in the shadow of Shaquille O'Neal, his godfather and the man his dad serves as a personal security guard.
When it comes to his own career, however, Crawford has no such dreams of grandeur.
He's just thrilled to wear the Arizona Wildcats uniform first given to him and fellow walk-on Drew Mellon earlier this month.
"It doesn't matter to me if someone knows my name or not," he said. "I'm here to do a job that they told me to do."
The two were plucked from the student population - Mellon was lighting up the rec center, Crawford returning to the game after a year away - to serve as UA practice players.
On Jan. 3, the two were added to the active roster. Crawford played the final minute of Thursday night's blowout win at Utah.
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Whether he plays or not, Mellon is content.
"I didn't think it would happen," he said. "I'm happy to be here."
Quietly in November, the Wildcats - who play at Colorado today - invited six students to try out to become practice players.
The drills at Richard Jefferson Gymnasium were more intellectual than physical.
Graduate manager Danny Peters showed them a flex offense and then gave them different plays to run out of the offensive set. Peters wanted to pick players smart enough to learn an opposing team's offense on the fly.
"Fifteen minutes before practice," Peters said, "you could give them 20 plays."
Peters made few promises. Mellon and Crawford didn't know if they would ever receive jerseys or travel.
"They weren't even promised tickets," Peters said. "They'd be at home games because we'd let them in. They'd sit on the bench or sit on the stands."
That was fine.
"They gave us a pretty good understanding there was no glamour in it," Crawford said. "I was all for it."
That attitude probably landed them the two vacant spots.
"I feel like I definitely need to work harder and push the other players," said Mellon, an 18-year-old freshman. "Some of the little things I have to do, I don't mind it. I do it for the good of the team."
The two took different paths to Sean Miller's team.
Despite playing sparingly, Mellon was a captain last season at Mater Dei High School, the Santa Ana, Calif., school that has produced Pac-12 players Keala King, Tyler Lamb, Gary Franklin, Travis and David Wear and others in the past few years.
In Mellon's two years on the varsity, the Monarchs went 64-5.
His bid to walk on to the UA earlier in the fall was scuttled, but he stayed in school anyway before scoring the November tryout invitation.
Mellon, from Tustin, Calif., said he was happy to remain a small cog in a successful program.
"It was a great opportunity, and I took an advantage of it," he said.
A New Jersey native, Crawford, 21, played two years at Middlesex County College in Edison N.J.
He came to the UA in fall 2010 at the advice of Phoenix Suns players and staff members, including Steve Kerr and Channing Frye, with whom he was friendly because of O'Neal.
"They were a little biased," Crawford joked of the UA alums.
After one year as a student, Crawford was invited to the camp by one of the team's managers.
Peters gave the two the highest praise for walk-ons.
"Production over problems," he said. "They're low-maintenance."
Even before the two received their jerseys earlier this month - a function, in part, of freshman forward Sidiki Johnson's leaving school - they filled critical needs.
UA coaches can now assemble a team of walk-ons - Robert Arvizu, Max Wiepking, Dondre Wise and the two newest guys - to run other teams' plays in practice.
Not having to explain practice squad duties to the UA's scholarship players saves the Wildcats a half-hour per practice.
"One of the ways you have to coach right now is being responsible with our time," Miller said. "You can't keep players on the court longer than they need to be on there.
"(It's) getting on and off the court, having great practices - having a process that's solid is important - and everybody matters.
"And adding these two guys is a way to accomplish the same thing in a shorter time manner, using them to be the other team."
Coaches surprised the two with game jerseys earlier this month; neither knew they would be added to the roster.
"We were like, 'What?' " Crawford said, smiling. "I was more excited that I was going to be a part of something."
In exchange, both Crawford and Mellon are enjoying the perks of being an athlete, including academic support and new Nikes. They're getting an intensive course in what both hope could be a coaching career down the road.
Name recognition isn't necessary.
Never was.
"If we're remembered by anything," Crawford said, "it's as kids that were all in from Day 1. That's all I really ask."
On StarNet: Check out the Star's interactive Insider presentation previewing today's Arizona-Colorado game at azstarnet.com/multimedia
Get to know…
Here's a look at the Arizona Wildcats' two latest roster additions, walk-ons Quinton Crawford and Drew Mellon:
Quinton Crawford
• Class: Junior
• Position: Guard
• Height: 6-1
• Weight: 190 pounds
• Age: 21
• Last played: Middlesex County College in Edison, N.J.
• Jersey Number: 51
Drew Mellon
• Class: Freshman
• Position: Forward
• Height: 6-5
• Weight: 210 pounds
• Age: 18
• Last played: Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif.
• Jersey Number: 55
