At the Final Four in Indianapolis, Big Baby wandered through the RCA Dome as if he were some sort of religious messiah. People cried out for him, strained to touch him.

This mammoth smiling basketball player from Louisiana State University allowed himself to be smothered. At one point, he actually walked into the overcrowded stands to greet a man in a wheelchair and then gently beckoned for shy little girls to approach him, at the same time ignoring the pleas of school administrators and police officers attempting to hustle him off to a waiting news conference. His loyal followers first had to be served.

The previous weekend in Atlanta, Big Baby wrapped a yellow feather boa around his neck and danced enthusiastically on the floor of the Georgia Dome to the delight of the gathered masses following an NCAA Tournament victory over Texas that ensured a trip to Indiana. Before the celebration was over, he and his teammates had grabbed a microphone and warmly addressed their fans.

Shortly before the postseason, he hammed it up in a ballet class, holding a silly, limber pose against a backdrop of serious women dancers for a Sports Illustrated magazine photo shoot. If it's fun stuff, count him in.

Glen Davis is this mystic man-child with the great nickname, currently the college's game most lovable character, someone with a wide reach. Tonight at a sold-out Edmundson Pavilion, the 6-foot-9 junior forward plays to a new audience, leading 12th-ranked LSU (6-2) against the No. 17 Washington Huskies (8-1) in a nationally televised game. Five days in advance of Christmas, his unique presence has provided Seattle basketball fans with the ultimate holiday gift.

As Big Baby, Davis understands his increasing popularity and the responsibilities that accompany it.

"It's who I am," he said. "It's what I do. It's a role I created in college basketball. I sort of enjoy it. I embrace it."

It doesn't hurt at all that he can play a little, considered the second coming of Charles Barkley by combining high-level basketball skills with an engaging, wisecracking personality and thick torso.

"He's energy going through the roof," Huskies freshman center Spencer Hawes said.

Davis, who turns 21 on New Year's Day, was christened Big Baby by a youth football coach annoyed by a then-oversized, 9-year-old kid from Baton Rouge complaining daily of being forced to go up against players two and three years older rather than anyone his own age.

Everybody else is whining over this interaction and the size discrepancy now, even though he has become a decidedly smaller Baby.

Since the Final Four and a 59-45 semifinals loss to UCLA, Davis has pared his weight from 347 pounds to somewhere between 289 and 295, give or take a Chips Ahoy! cookie or two, which is his favorite sin food.

"I cheat a little bit," he said. "Everybody needs a taste. My problem was overdosing."

Funny thing is, no one seemed to notice the excessive girth except him. Big Baby was supposed to be big. After all, he was never bad on the floor for long while packing all those extra pounds.

In his first season at LSU, Davis averaged 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and was named Southeastern Conference freshman of the year. Last season, he bumped his scoring and rebounding numbers up to 18.6 and 9.7 and was selected SEC player of the year, advancing his team to Indianapolis.

"The crazy thing about it was I was still dominating, you know," Davis said. "I was still contributing. No one had a problem with it. No one was telling me I had to do anything different. I just took notice of my game, of what I had to do."

It bothered him that he was breathing extra hard at the Final Four against UCLA. It bothered him that the Tigers lost that outing, so close to a national championship. It shook him a lot when the scale registered 347, about 10 to 15 pounds more than he envisioned.

That number popped up a week after he had regaled Final Four reporters with tales of an oatmeal diet. He had compared the bland-tasting meal to some sort of worm-filled concoction on reality TV, drawing considerable laughs. He mentioned that someone would eat either serving only for money, in his case an NBA contract some day. He was fooling himself.

A more determined Big Baby spent the summer slimming down and playing in a Houston pro-am league. He worked out alongside several NBA veterans, in particular bonding with Sonics forward Rashard Lewis. The older guys were dubious about Davis' future prospects when first sizing up his round physique, but quickly warmed to him.

"It looks like he can't move, but he has great footwork," Lewis said. "He moves his feet real well on defense. He runs the floor well and he gets up and down. For his size, you wouldn't think he would be able to do the things he can do."

Still, Big Baby was given a reality check. He received a candid assessment from his new friends, informed his game needed polishing and his body sculpting before he pursued the NBA.

"You will get to the next level when it's your time," Lewis told him. "You can't think about how much fun you're having working out with us or hanging out with us. It's time for you to come back to earth and get LSU back to the Final Four."

Big Baby heeded the advice of Lewis and others and had his decision reaffirmed when he saw up close the downside of leaving too soon.

"I've got a friend, Tyrus Thomas; you may have heard of him," he said, referring to his former LSU teammate who does more sitting than playing for the Chicago Bulls after just one season as a collegian. "I don't think he's having the best time of his life."

As he prepares to face the Huskies, Davis has increased his scoring and rebounding averages to 20.1 and 10.3, respectively. He has increased stamina, averaging nearly four minutes more per game than the season before. He's playing whatever amount is asked of him.

"He's more mobile and he plays harder for longer," LSU coach John Brady said. "He played all 45 minutes against Texas, which went to overtime. A year ago, he couldn't do that."

Davis is quicker, more nimble. Last Sunday in a 60-53 victory at Oregon State, he twice led the fast break coast to coast. The first time, he demonstrated guard-like moves, charging the basket, cleverly faking a drop pass to his right and zipping past Kyle Jeffers for a lay-in. On his second assault, he dribbled hard down the court before pulling up and hitting a soft jumper in the key. He put together a 20-point, 13-rebound effort against the Beavers.

For a guy normally surrounded by huge numbers, Big Baby wears No. 0 on his purple jersey for symbolic reasons. Growing up with a drug-addicted mother and postal-worker father he hardly knew, the early period of his life was a considerable struggle, living in a foster home when not with relatives. He doesn't want to forget those humbling times.

"Zero is before one, it's the bottom," Davis said, turning philosophical. "You see zero and it always makes me think about where I came from and who I am. I started at the bottom. I haven't accomplished anything yet. I'm zero. I'm still at the bottom."

That's highly debatable, yet that kind of thinking is one reason the self-deprecating Big Baby has such a huge following. He easily relates to the common man. He greets everyone he encounters, frequently drops a dollar on those in need. Ask him what he would be doing if he weren't a college basketball star and his answer is revealing.

"I'd probably be a truck driver, a big truck driver, eating a big poor boy (sandwich), in Texas, wearing big boots, a big cowboy hat, delivering some Texaco gas," he said, providing an unintentional endorsement.

Of the Huskies, only guards Justin Dentmon and Ryan Appleby have played against the Big Baby before, both in AAU games while in high school. Appleby remembers Davis being in poor shape, but still tough to stop. Davis vaguely remembers Appleby, referring to him as "Apple." Dentmon and Big Baby crossed paths last summer in Indiana as Nike basketball camp counselors, sometimes mixing it up in pickup games.

"At first, I didn't like him because he wouldn't pass the ball," the UW guard said.

"He talked a lot of smack," the LSU big man replied.

The one thing Big Baby has over all collegiate basketball players is the coolest nickname. None of the Huskies have been tagged with anything worthy of a headline or eventual product line.

Hawes says he's still waiting for someone to cleverly label him and his game. Playing for a Seattle contingent in the famed Rucker Tournament last summer in Harlem, he was christened "Lurch" or "You Rang?" after the lumbering butler on the decades-old "Addams Family" TV sitcom, but wasn't thrilled by either creation.

Dentmon has given the subject careful thought and found inspiration, thanks to the drawing power of his well-advertised LSU visitor.

"I want to be Little Baby," he said.

HUSKIES VS. LSU

WHEN/WHERE: Tonight, 7:30, Hec Edmundson Pavilion

TV/RADIO: FSN; KJR-AM/950

LSU (6-2)

Player	Ht	Pts	Reb
F G. Davis	6-9	20.1	10.3
F T. Mitchell	6-7	14.6	7.4
F D. Lazare	6-8	10.7	5.2
G G. Temple	6-5	12.8	3.4*
G D. Mason	6-6	6.9	3.6

* assists

WASHINGTON (8-1)

Player	Ht	Pts	Reb
F J. Brockman	6-7	11.6	9.4
F Q. Pondexter	6-6	16.0	5.4
C S. Hawes	7-0	13.8	4.9
G J. Dentmon	5-11	12.9	4.9*
G A. Oliver	6-3	6.1	3.8

* assists

WHAT TO KNOW: Game will be televised nationally by FSN. ... LSU leads the series 2-1, winning 70-61 in Seattle in 1985 and 51-48 in Baton Rouge in 1983, and losing 88-69 in the 1953 NCAA Tournament consolation game to a Huskies team led by Bob Houbregs, who will be in attendance for this one. ... The UW is 4-5 against SEC teams. ... Oliver suffered a concussion against Portland State and didn't practice Monday. He participated in Tuesday's practice. ... Ryan Appleby, before transferring to the UW, played two scoreless minutes in a 73-70 loss to LSU in 2004 while with Florida. ... LSU beat Oregon State 60-53 on Sunday night.

PLAYER TO WATCH: The man they call Big Baby. Davis is one of college basketball's marquee players. Brockman will probably draw the defensive assignment, making for a bruising exchange.

-- Dan Raley