Peyton Siva brings blessings, not burdens, to Louisville

• Louisville point guard Peyton Siva uses Bible as inspiration
• Siva watched father, Peyton Sr., sink into drug addiction and prison
• Siva has become star on court for No. 3 Louisville

LOUISVILLE — Each day, Peyton Siva Jr. receives a text message that's a bit different from all the others he'll get that day.

It's a Bible verse from his former youth pastor, a bite-size chunk of religion — the perfect amount for the Louisville guard who's busy juggling his senior year classes and the rigors of college basketball's regular season.

But Siva always has time for a text from Danny Cage, the pastor he credits with getting his teen-age self in touch with his spirituality. At Louisville, Siva wears No. 3 to represent the Trinity: the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.

Before he found Cage and the church, Siva had watched his father sink into a world of drugs, addiction and prison. At 13, a desperate Siva borrowed his brother's car to drive around Seattle to search for his missing father, eventually finding him with a gun in his lap.

"Peyton tells me, 'Dad, I know you love me and I know you'd do anything for me. I don't need you to go in and out of jail. I need you to be there,'" Siva Sr. says. "That was pretty much my turning point there. That's where everything began to change in my life. I committed to going to treatment, doing things I was supposed to be doing so I could be there for my son today."

During Siva Jr.'s childhood, both of his older siblings spent time in jail, too. The youngest of the family was the first to graduate from high school.

"(His sister and brother) tested limits, got into trouble at school and got into trouble out in the community," says Yvette Gaston, Siva's mother. "He didn't go that route. He just didn't want to. He saw what his sister and brother were doing and what it was doing to me. He didn't want that. He learned from their mistakes. He wanted to see us all do better."

First, Siva used basketball as an escape. He grew up playing up against older, bigger kids. Coaches admired the way Siva didn't cuss on the court like most of his teammates.

Then came the church. Like basketball, religion proved to be a sanctuary; Cage opened the door.

"He put it in terms I could understand -- basketball-related terms -- to really help me out, guide me along those terms," Siva says. "I went to Bible study every week. Eventually, he just said, 'You might as well come over to the church.'
"My brother and sister started to go with me. I made all my friends go with me."

Cage says there are three levels of "contact work" in his vocation. Level one was getting to know Siva in Cage's environment — the church.

Reaching the next level

It took a year before Siva and Cage started calling and texting each other regularly. Eventually, Siva asked Cage to come to one of his basketball games. This was level two: Siva's environment.

"He'd say, 'How'd I play?' and it might be a game where he has 35 points and shot 95% and had a whole bunch of assists and rebounds, so everybody says he played good," Cage says. "But I'd say, 'You didn't really play too well.'"

When Siva would ask why, Cage would tell him it was his attitude.

"When the ref made this call, you made this face and it kind of changed your attitude for a while," Cage would tell him. "You're the point guard. You're the leader of the team. The team follows suit with you, so if you have these breakdowns, these crybaby moments, it can affect your whole team.

"When I come to your games, I look for things like that. Everybody can praise you for basketball, but my job will be to help develop you as a man."

While Peyton's father remained an irregular presence in his life, he continued to develop relationships with Cage and his basketball coaches (both AAU and high school).

"They would take Peyton under their wings," Gaston says. "He was the type of kid who would search out for male role models. He was always at his coaches' house or at pastor Danny Cage's house. I always used to joke that I don't have to worry about (them) trying to adopt my son. My son is the kind of kid that adopts families."

Siva Sr. said he understood the role the men played.

"I didn't have time for jealousy," Siva Sr. says. "I didn't have time to play that power-trip type of dad. …

"I knew I was very blessed that when I wasn't there, these men were there coaching my son. You know, being a father to him. My heart goes out to these coaches, these men.

"I could go back and tell them thank you. They'd be like, 'Why are you telling me thank you?' I'd say, 'You guys played a part in my son's life and you guys are a lot of the reason why he's where he is today.' "

Siva spent time at coaches' houses, getting to know their kids. He hung out at Cage's home on weekends, too, sometimes playing video games and other times, watching Cage's kids play sports. Anything to avoid the dangerous temptations of the Seattle streets.

"Seeing my family members go through all of their situations, I've seen alcohol play a major part, and drugs," Siva says.

"So one thing for me was never to touch that stuff. That's always been my motivation when I go out with my friends or see somebody else do it. I would never fall into that peer pressure because I've seen what it can do to my family and what it can do to other people's families."

Cage says no topic was off-limits with Siva. How are you doing? How are you doing sexually? How are you doing with peer pressure — did someone offer you drugs?

"We'd just have those real conversations," Cage said. "He'd talk about of course his father, very sparingly, and his brothers and sisters."

Level three: Reached.

Mom was role model

Gaston first got together with Siva Sr. when she was about 11 years old, she says. They navigated junior high and high school together and were married when Gaston was 18.

She divorced him at age 22, when Siva Jr. was six months old. She had tried to help Siva Sr. through "his demons," but says, "it got the best of him."

Convinced she had to make a better life for her children, Gaston enrolled at Seattle Central Community College and eventually transferred to the University of Washington. She graduated in 1995 with a degree in sociology — the same as Siva's major at Louisville.

When she couldn't find a babysitter, Gaston brought her young children to class with her.

"I've got my baby in my lap and the other two sitting by my ankles, and people start looking at me with dirty looks," Gaston says.

But she did it anyway. She had to get that degree -- for her kids, for their future. She didn't want them living off of welfare.

"She was definitely my role model growing up," Siva says. "She made everything happen for us. "She's always been my biggest role model, my biggest love."

Gaston now works for the King County Superior Court as a juvenile probation counselor.

A greater purpose

Siva says he has a purpose larger than basketball, and part of that involves talking about the bad stuff.

"I have no problem with sharing my story if it can help anyone," Siva says. "I try to help out whoever whenever they need it."

Louisville coach Rick Pitino sees that side of Siva all the time. That's mostly a good thing in his mind.

"Peyton is one of the top three players as people I've ever coached in my life -- this is pro, college, 35 years," Pitino says. "He's just a remarkable young man with everything he's been through in his life. … He is just such a special young man, so considerate, so concerned about others, so willing to do what anybody asks him to do.

"He's just trying to please everybody non-stop 24 hours a day. Sometimes, that sucks the air out of you a little bit. That's where we've had a lot of conversations. 'Peyton, you can't just please everybody all the time. You have to take some time to yourself.' "

Siva has inspired his father and his siblings to improve their own lives. His brother went to community college, and Siva says his sister, who has a son with another on the way, is going to cosmetology school. Siva Sr. is coaching Seattle youth football and basketball and mentoring high school students, trying to give back to the community that helped raise his son.

"My son is my rock," Peyton Sr. says. "When the pressure's on me, I can always count on my son to talk to. Wherever he's at, he'll take time out to talk to me. … The encouraging words that come out of him, it's healing."

This season, Peyton is averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. The No. 3-ranked Cardinals began the season amid fanfare, and they still feel ongoing pressure to make a return trip to the Final Four.

And of course, Peyton is trying his best to please everyone. His mother. His father. His teammates. His coaches. Cards fans.

He'll try to do it all — one Bible verse at a time.