The 6-foot-9 center has always loved basketball and dreamed of playing for a NCAA Division I team, but he is more than content to be able to get a scholarship in one of the country’s top NAIA programs in Columbia College, which meets Missouri Baptist tomorrow night in a showdown for the lead in the American Midwest Conference.

Journeyman Aaron Stone, left, has filled in admirable for injured starter Sam Tatiersky averaging 10 points in his starts. Ed Pfueller photo

It all started when his family moved in 1998 forcing Stone to transfer from Valley Park to Ladue High (suburban St. Louis schools) in his senior year. Then Stone, who has been playing competitive basketball year-round since grade school, felt burnt out and decided to step away from the game.

He enrolled at MU in the spring of 1999 after working the previous semester to save up for tuition while staying in his new home of Columbia, where his family now resides. In the fall of 1999, he decided to re-try his pursuit of playing D-I ball by playing at Kemper Military Junior College. But the Boonville school closed its doors. Stone was again forced to move, but found salvation in Columbia College.

"I’ve been all around," Stone said. "After taking a year off basketball I thought I was done with it. But then there was a spark that hit me, making me want to play again. Basketball is a part of my life, something I’ve been doing since I was in the third grade. I’m just glad to be back."

His passion for the game is part of the reason for the sophomore’s breakthrough performance in the early part of the conference season. After starting center Sam Tatiersky broke his left foot after a Christmas tournament, coach Bob Burchard increased Stone’s minutes from two to 20 per game and gave him the opportunity to earn a spot in the starting lineup.

"Aaron was next in line for minutes," said Burchard, whose Cougars are 20-2 and 5-0 in the AMC. "We needed to see what he could do out there and he certainly made the most of it."

Stone made his first start in a 70-60 win at Lyons College, scoring 15 points and adding three rebounds in 20 minutes. He followed that performance by scoring 23 points to go along with seven rebounds in 37 minutes against conference foe Park University in his first home start.

"I wanted to put on a good show for the home crowd," said Stone about the Park game. "To be able to break 20 points was huge for me. I knew I had to do something to keep my starting job."

Stone has a surprisingly soft touch for someone his size and is shooting 46 percent from the field and 72 percent from the foul line. He has the height and strength to guard some of the conference’s toughest post players like McKendree NAIA All-American candidate Matt Laur. The 6-foot-11 center was limited to 17 points and six rebounds in the 68-65 loss against the Cougars on Jan. 13, down from his season averages of 20.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest.

"Laur is huge, probably the biggest player I’ll face," said Stone, who scored 13 points and had five rebounds against McKendree. "I give up a couple of inches and about 40 pounds on him. But I think I held my own."

After a shaky start in the season, Stone has found his stride and is performing well in his new role. Since taking over Tatiersky’s starting spot, Stone has averaged 10 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in those six starts.

"He adjusted real well to the starting role," said Tatiersky. "I always knew he had the capabilities. He’s going to make it hard for me to come back and earn my spot back."

The senior Slovakia native had three rebounds in nine minutes off the bench last week at College of the Ozarks in his first game since the injury. Tatiersky said he should be back at full-strength soon.

Joining Stone from now-defunct Kemper Military is Cougar backup guard Derek Broadus. The Columbia native knew about the Columbia College program from his days playing at Hickman and convinced Stone to join the Cougars.

"It was a big shock when Kemper decided to cut basketball," said Broadus, who was told about the decision in March 2000. "Our season was already done with and it was late in the recruiting season. Coach Burchard gave me a tryout and then gave one to Aaron after I told him about Columbia College. Now he finally has a home base."

Stone honed his game playing against his father John, who stands 6-4. The elder Stone said that Aaron has been playing against older players since he joined a select team in third grade and continued through AAU teams in the St. Louis area.

"He has always been put in pressure situations," John Stone said. "It has a maturing influence on him so I’m not surprised that he’s doing so well so early in his career. He’s gone to big schools and to some small schools and now he’s found a sort of a home here. Columbia is familiar ground to him now that his friends and family are here. I think that’s why he’s here."