Storrs - The intersection of academics and athletics often happens on that tenuous piece of real estate east of cynical and west of gullible. You're either a terminal infidel who believes even the graduating athletes ride the rainbow of elementary courses or a compliant sap who recites graduation rates from memory.

Consider, though, the case of Kemba Walker, the Connecticut whiz kid, known nationally for spinning poor defenders like roulette wheels and delivering the Huskies into the top five. Turns out that Walker carries more than his teammates. Like schlepping a laptop across the country.

"He's always got his laptop with him. Always," Walker's mom, Andrea, said.

That's because Kemba Walker's desire, aside from drawing a paycheck from the National Basketball Association, is to graduate from UConn in three years. It means that he's been busier than Penn Station for the past year or so.

"Finals ended May 12 last year," said Felicia Crump, who works with men's basketball at UConn's Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes. "Kemba was in class May 14."

It was last spring when Walker decided that graduating in three years was a good idea. He feared that he was alone in that conclusion. He nonetheless approached Crump, who has replaced Ted Taigen as the program's academic counselor, a liaison between the players and their professors.

"I don't think he thought I was going to say yes," Crump said. "The main thing was that everybody was on board with the expectations. So we met with each of his professors to explain what he was doing and than came up with a plan so that he could be invested in basketball and still do what he needed to."

Graduating in three years, essentially, requires students to take more credits in a shorter time period, including the summer. And so Walker, who spent the occasional week off campus last summer at some basketball tournaments, carried a laptop as Linus would his blanket.

"He's a busy guy," said Andrea Walker, who works in the health care field in New York City.

Busy? You want busy? This is busy:

"He's at LeBron's skills camp," Crump said, "and sending me drafts of papers. I loved it."

Walker, a sociology major, took 15 credits last semester, 16 over the summer and a full load of 18 this semester. That's enough work to keep even the regular old college students guzzling Old Milwaukee on the weekends. But here's a guy who can't, what with the requisite demands of basketball: weight training, film, team meals, extra work, practice, games, travel and, in Walker's case, the responsibility of being the team's Everyman.

"Basketball is what I want to do for the rest of my life," Walker said. "But at some point, it has to stop. I want to get (my degree) and get it over with."

Walker's summer courses were mostly related to sociology, with the notable exception of statistics, hellish even for people with time on their hands. But even when he wasn't on campus, Walker was a full-time student.

"I told my teachers in advance when I'd be traveling and I was fortunate that they worked with me," Walker said. "They let me e-mail some assignments and hand in a little work late."

Walker's days begin early. He meets with Crump frequently to plan. Classes are mostly between 9 a.m. and noon. Basketball begins in the early afternoon.

"We spend quite a bit of time together," Crump said. "Kemba prefers to work in the morning. On weekends, we have mandatory study hall for underclassmen. And Kemba spends all day Sunday there, too."

Walker has every intention of graduating in May. He knows it's not going to be easy. His mom says "he's trying his best." Walker said there's no pressure if it doesn't happen because he can always graduate with his class.

Then Walker's face lost most of its expression and he said, "But I don't ever back away from a challenge."

That's the Kemba Walker we know.

But it's the Kemba we just met, the guy who understands the significance - and the role - of academics even in college sports that makes you want to root for him.

Walker's days, awash in books and baskets, are too busy for anything else. Too bad. Because he'd sure look great on a stage in a high school auditorium talking about priorities and discipline. Those old things. Meantime, let's hope there's a spot for him on the stage in Storrs come May. Good kid. Good story. Great effort.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.