Jessie Establishes Own Identity Far From Family, Football Field : Ventura: Son of former Rams All-Pro receiver finds niche on the hardwood, 100 miles from Huntington Beach home.

Brandon Jessie was pounding the hardwood during another intense practice with the Ventura College men’s basketball team when he heard that oh-so-familiar voice.

“What did you do that for?” Coach Philip Mathews yelled at Jessie, stopping the action. “Why did you let him beat you to the rebound?”

Jessie, a freshman forward from Edison High in Huntington Beach, didn’t answer. There was no point. If Jessie has learned something this season it is that silence is a virtue--and a survival tool--when the boss admonishes.

Which for Mathews is standard operating procedure. Even after blowout victories, the highly successful, volatile coach often criticizes his players.

So far, Jessie has been able to handle it, although admittedly he has moments when his gut reaction is difficult to control.

“Sometimes, I want to get (Mathews) in a headlock and choke him,” Jessie said. “When I first came up here and he yelled at me, I wanted to go home. Then I realized you listen to what he says, not how he says it.”

For Jessie, a highly regarded high school football and basketball player and the son of former Rams All-Pro receiver Ron Jessie, the lessons are paying off.

Originally targeted to open the season as a backup, Jessie cracked the starting lineup before the team’s first game in November when power forward Robert Coyne quit the team for personal reasons. At the time, Jessie belonged to Ventura’s “Black Team,” a unit of reserves that enters games en masse to spell the regulars.

Now, others come into games to give him a breather.

As the Pirates, the state’s top-ranked team, prepare for their game against San Diego City (10-16) at 7:30 tonight in the first round of the Southern California regional, Jessie has become an integral part of the team. His steady play at both ends of the court helped Ventura (32-1) to the Western State Conference North Division title with an 8-0 record.

Jessie (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) is second on the team in scoring with a 16.5 average and first in rebounds with 9.3. He opened WSC North Division play with a 26-point, 13-rebound performance in a 98-54 rout of Cuesta on Jan. 20 and a week later scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Ventura’s 66-47 victory over Santa Barbara City.

Yet Mathews says Jessie, 18, has yet to reach his potential.

“He’s young. He doesn’t know how to play hard yet,” said Mathews, who in eight seasons has coached Ventura to a state title (1986-87) and a record of 220-50. “He plays in spurts. When he becomes consistent throughout the whole game, you’ll see a different player.”

Mathews never saw the original version of Jessie, the basketball player, in high school. He recruited Jessie strictly on the opinions of other coaches and the hope that the youngster had inherited some of his father’s athletic ability.

“I recruited him on reputation alone and on the recommendations of other people who I respect in the coaching profession,” Mathews said. “A player of that caliber who everyone tells you is good, you have to believe that.”

Jessie, however, believed he was headed for more celebrated places after a brilliant high school athletic career.

At Edison, Jessie was a Times All-Orange County pick in basketball his junior and senior seasons, and the Sunset League most valuable player both seasons after leading the Chargers to back-to-back league co-championships.

He established school records for most points with 1,580 and rebounds with 818 as a three-year starter. Jessie also set Edison’s single-game scoring record with 43 points against Westminster in 1991-92.

But although highly gifted and heavily recruited by Division I colleges as a basketball player, Jessie also had gained considerable notice in football after joining the team late and playing only five games at wide receiver his junior year--the only time he had played organized football. That’s the sport Edison football Coach Dave White says Jessie could have turned into a profitable profession.

“He was the best athlete I’ve ever seen,” White said. “I thought his football potential was unlimited. I honestly believe he would have made the NFL some day and could picture him there as a tight end. I hope he makes it to the NBA, but it might not be that easy for a guy his size.”

Despite White’s attempts to keep Jessie focused on football, Jessie decided to concentrate on basketball his senior year.

Jessie, who played both sports and ran track as a junior, said he wanted to rest instead of participating in mandatory two-a-day football practices before his senior season. One game into the season, White said, Jessie approached him about playing after all. The coach put the matter to the team, which voted against Jessie.

Coming from the son of a former pro player, Jessie’s attitude toward football seemed strange. But Jessie said the family connection never entered the picture.

“My dad never pushed me to play sports,” Jessie said. “People looked at me and said, ‘Well, you should go pro because your dad went pro.’ They thought I should have followed my dad’s footsteps and played football.”

Said Ron Jessie: “I always emphasized there was more to life than sports. If you want to do it for yourself, fine. But it takes too much time and effort to do it for someone else. I encouraged him when he wanted to do it but I didn’t force him.”

With the football question settled at Edison, Jessie went into the basketball season bent on impressing recruiters from major colleges. And he apparently did. Jessie said schools that showed interest included UCLA, USC, Colorado, Kansas, Washington, UNLV and Pittsburgh. But that was before he failed an algebra class that was part of the core curriculum required by the NCAA for high school athletes planning to attend four-year colleges.

So when Jessie decided to attend a junior college, his father suggested they contact Mathews, whom a friend had recommended.

“I felt he should get away from home for a while,” Ron Jessie said. “If he went to a JC down in Orange County, he would have been hanging around with the same crowd. They have a laid back, beach mentality. I wanted him to concentrate on what he had to do with his studies and have a more positive influence. I’m very pleased so far with everything that’s happening.”

Once Jessie visited Ventura with his parents, he was sold on Mathews and his program. He was toying with the idea of playing football, but Mathews convinced him to stick with basketball because playing two sports would have taken too much time away from schoolwork.

“I knew from the beginning that Ventura was a winning program,” Jessie said. “It’s the best decision I’ve made. I know Coach will help me get my academics together.”

There were times, however, when Jessie’s budding athletic career seemed in doubt. His mother, Sharon, is a devout Jehovah’s Witness who raised Jessie and his brother, Ron Jr., in the strict code of the religion. The dogma, Jessie said, clashed with his desire to play sports. Until high school, Jessie’s only real sports experience was a brief stint on a youth baseball team and in pickup basketball games at a nearby park.

Jehovah’s Witnesses “don’t disapprove of you playing sports, but they don’t encourage it,” said Jessie, who regularly attended church services until moving to Ventura.

Jessie said his mother finally agreed to let him play at Edison, and has even attended some of his junior college games with Ron Jessie, who is a fixture in the bleachers. After all, Jessie is part of an outstanding basketball program, one that could open doors to a high-profile four-year school.

That means, of course, listening to Mathews for another season.

“The first time he yelled at me I said, ‘I want to go home,’ ” Jessie said. “He tells everyone that if you have a thin skin, you can’t play for him. So I’ve been thickening my skin pretty quick.”