The original J.T.

You won't find Braintree High assistant boys' basketball coach Jeff Timberlake regaling his players with tales of his playing days.

"I don't want to come off as some blowhard," said Timberlake. "I mean, I want them to know I played basketball so that we can relate to each other, but that's as far as it goes."

If it stays that way, it would be unfortunate. For now, members of the Braintree basketball team will have to look elsewhere to learn the lore of their new assistant coach. If they ask anyone who followed the local college basketball scene in the late 80s, the answer is clear: Jeff Timberlake was "The Man."

A Globe All-Scholastic, Timberlake graduated from BC High in 1984 (where he would face Xaverian's Dana Barros) and the Quincy native spent a year in prep school before accepting a full scholarship to Boston University.

The very next day, John Kuenster resigned as the school's basketball coach and Cambridge Rindge & Latin headman Mike Jarvis was named head coach. Having coached against Timberlake in high school, Jarvis was not exactly impressed with the newest Terrier.

"It was like that scene from 'An Officer and a Gentleman,'" said Timberlake. In the movie, Louis Gosset Jr. plays a drill sergeant trying to get a young recruit played by Richard Gere to leave the Navy before Gere's character breaks down and exclaims, "I've got nowhere else to go."

"Mike Jarvis was telling me to find another place to play, but there wasn't another place. I had no place to go, and I knew he couldn't take away my scholarship."

So Timberlake stayed, but his problems did not disappear when the captains' practices began.

"I showed up, but they wouldn't let me play," said Timberlake. "None of them had ever met me, and they didn't believe that I was actually on the team. It was like being the last kid picked on the playground."

Day after day, Timberlake would show up, but not step on the court. Eventually the team was down a few guys, and Timberlake was called upon to play.

"I just kept passing the ball, which they loved. We won like 15 out of 16 games," said Timberlake. "Once they realized I didn't shoot, I got picked every time."

Despite getting off to a rocky start, Timberlake and Jarvis soon found themselves on the same page.

"He didn't think I belonged at that level at first, but I knew what he expected," said Timberlake. "We had a great four years together. I think in the end I understood him more than he understood me."

The landscape of local college basketball was different in the late 80s. Boston College was going through some lean years, and both Northeastern -- with Jim Calhoun as coach -- and BU with Jarvis were more than happy to fill that void. The two schools often jousted for the America East title, then known as the North Atlantic Conference, and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

"For me, it was great," said Timberlake. "I was a local kid, playing in this rivalry. To get a scholarship was unbelievable."

In both 1986 and 1987, the Terriers lost to Reggie Lewis and Northeastern in the championship game. Lewis graduated in 1987, and was taken in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.

BU broke through for the win in 1988, as Timberlake was named the Most Outstanding Player in the conference tournament. That season, Timberlake became the first BU player to score more than 300 points (313), hand out more than 200 assists (223), and collect over 100 (103) rebounds in a single season. The Terriers went on to lose in the NCAA tournament to a Duke squad that advanced all the way to the Final Four.

"I think I have some records that will never be broken, just because the game is played a little differently," said Timberlake.

More specifically, his school records for assists in a season (223) and in a career (788), look safe for now. But don't let those totals fool you into thinking Timberlake was a one-dimensional player. He could shoot as well, and finished his time at BU having scored over 1,000 points.

Although not selected in the NBA Draft, Timberlake was invited to several team's rookie free agent camps in the summer of 1989, including Boston.

These camps are usually for draft picks and free agents looking to make the team. Established NBA veterans typically do not show up. The Celtics' camp appeared to be no different. That is, until one veteran showed up.

"We were getting ready to take the court, and Larry Bird came over and said 'Can I play with you guys'?" said Timberlake.

Bird had been coming off double-heel surgery the previous November, and was forced to miss the rest of the season. He was now looking to shake off the rust.

"I worshiped the guy growing up, now I'm on the same court with him," Timberlake said with a laugh. "I passed him the ball, and just stood there. I wanted to see what he was going to do. He just looked at me and said, 'Move!' It was like I forgot I was playing."

It didn't get much better for Timberlake. Later in the scrimmage, he took a shot, and Bird went up for the rebound, but Bird's legs were taken out from underneath by Kelvin Upshaw. Bird crashed to the floor, landing on his back. That was the end of Bird's stay at the camp, and, as it turned out, Timberlake's as well.

"The next day I was cut," said Timberlake, again with a laugh.

From there, Timberlake went to the camps with the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors. It was Golden State, with Don Nelson as head coach, where Timberlake appeared to have his best shot. Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, Uwe Blab and Šarūnas Marčiulionis were all in camp for the Warriors, but it did not work out for Timberlake.

As he was plotting his next move, maybe playing overseas or in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), Timberlake's father took down a phone message.

"I came home, and my dad told me the Washington Generals called," said Timberlake. "I just laughed, and he said, 'No, I'm serious' and I said 'Sure you are'. But I called the number, and it was for real."

The Washington Generals play the foil to the Harlem Globetrotters. Timberlake toured with the team for nine months.

"It was an awesome, awesome experience," said Timberlake. "I've played in nine different countries and on three different continents. I've played in every state except Texas. Everywhere we went, we played in an NBA arena. It was the only time I got to play at the Boston Garden."

Despite the fact that it was the same act every night, it never got old, according to Timberlake.

"It sounds like a cliché, but the crowd was the difference," said Timberlake. "You'd be thinking, 'I don't want to do this' but then you'd get to the arena, and there'd be 18,000 people screaming, ready to have fun."

Timberlake soon reunited with Jarvis, serving as an assistant coach at George Washington University. He was at Jarvis' side in 1993, for the Colonials' Cinderella run in which they advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to Michigan's Fab Five.

Timberlake served that capacity for six seasons overall before returning to Massachusetts. He also spent time as an assistant at AIC in 1996, and coached a local church league team as well, but for the most part he had been out of coaching until his son started to play organized basketball.

"I couldn't watch someone else coach him," said Timberlake. "I didn't want to end up yelling at the coaches. I wanted to make sure he learned the fundamentals."

Meanwhile, the Braintree High team had an opening, when a longtime assistant left in the offseason. Head coach Bob Crook got a recommendation from an unlikely source.

"Bob's wife owns a consignment shop," said Timberlake. "My wife was in there, and they started talking, and she thought I should go for it."

Timberlake did not want to commit unless he was confident he would be able to do the job.

"I needed to make sure my wife understood what this involved," said Timberlake. "She needed to know it would mean time away from the family, going to games, practices, scouting other games."

Timberlake manages to get to all of the games, and about four practices per week. Crook is happy to have him aboard, even if he pretends he isn't impressed with his playing resume.

"He's a has-been who never amounted to anything," Crook said with a smile when asked about Timberlake. "No, I've known Jeff for years. We lost a good assistant coach from last year who went on to become assistant principal in Canton, but Jeff has added quite a bit. The kids have really taken to him."

Making the whole transition easier is the fact that the Wamps have a talented team that both Crook and Timberlake have enjoyed coaching this season. Braintree is 4-1 and entered the season ranked No. 13 in the Globe's Top 20 poll. The Wamps' one loss was to No. 1 BC High.

"These kids are fantastic," said Crook, who returned three starters from last year's squad and a number of reserves. "They listen, and they're very respectful."

That has also helped Timberlake, as he tries to balance time between the family and the team.

"The kids make it easy," said Timberlake. "I've been in situations where the kids aren't so easy to work with, but these kids are great, and that makes a huge difference. I'm able to bring my kids to the games, and they're around the players, and I don't have to worry about how they act around them."

It's where Timberlake wants to be.

"It's nice to be able to come back and give something back," he said. "I've never had aspirations to be a head coach. I like being an assistant coach. The players always like the assistant coach."