In gyms all over the country, 5s are becoming 4s, 4s converting to 3s, 3s to 2s—and perhaps most prevalent and key to their teams' success or failure—2s learning to be 1s.

There's a simple reason for all this number shrinkage in college basketball: height.

Big men in high school are often tweeners at the next level. Shooting guards and wing players aren't tall enough for the same roles beyond the prep ranks.

At 6-feet-2, Kareem Nitoto was always projected as a college point guard, but his scoring skills made him a shoot-first guy in high school at McClymonds and San Leandro in the Bay Area.

Since arriving at Hawaii last year, he began the makeover attempted by many before him with varying levels of success, that from star soloist to symphony conductor.

Watch him once, and you could see he possessed the physical skills and the intellect for such a move. But his development at the point was somewhat stunted as a true freshman. Yeah, he got playing time behind senior Matt Gibson, but it wasn't Nitoto's team to run.

“;He knew he wasn't going to unseat him,”; coach Bob Nash says. “;He was pressed into that role and maybe he wasn't quite ready. He's starting to understand his potential. Now he sees that he has an opportunity.”;

Nitoto consistently runs the first five at practice, and will likely start at the point when the Rainbow Warriors host Hawaii-Hilo in an exhibition today.

“;In high school, the team needed me to score points,”; Nitoto says after a long practice yesterday morning. “;Here, we've got lots of people who have been brought in to score points. My job is to keep learning more about being a point guard.”;

That meant a summer here of working on his ball-handling, defense and shot selection with former Rainbow Tes Whitlock and plenty of tape sessions with assistant coaches Larry Farmer and Eran Ganot.

In 11 minutes per game last season, Nitoto averaged 2.9 points, one assist and about 1 1/2 turnovers.

“;It's no secret he struggled a little last year. He had to understand what Division I is all about,”; Whitlock says. “;His improvement this year is all about him. He remained confident in his abilities, and he had the fortitude to work hard in the offseason and continue to work hard now.”;

Now, Nitoto has another former UH guard to help guide him, as Johnny White is also a student-assistant.

Kareem Nitoto is actually nearing completion of transformation all the way from a 5 to a 1. This is a young man who was destined to wear goggles and shoot the sky hook.

“;Yes, I'm named after my mom's favorite player,”; he says.

Slight problem—Nitoto didn't grow to be 7-feet tall like Abdul-Jabbar.

He found his own role model while growing up in Oakland, one more suited to his eventual height. He attended a camp hosted by then-Golden State Warrior Tim Hardaway, and Hardaway schooled him with a taste of his famous “;UTEP Two-Step”; crossover.

“;He didn't take it easy on me,”; Nitoto says. “;Even though I was 5 years old at the time.”;