The pressure's on Jake Sullivan. The soph replaces All-American Jamaal Tinsley at the point this season, and coach Larry Eustachy has told him, "This is your team. Run it." Sullivan is ecstatic. His parents are terrified.

Bill and Jane Sullivan have a vision of Jake before he was Big 12 Freshman of the Year, before he stuck 61 threes (obliterating the Iowa State rookie record), before Eustachy raved about his work ethic -- without knowing the kid was on medication to control it.

They remember peeking out the kitchen window, watching him practice shot after shot and wishing their son didn't love basketball so much. Jake would score 35 points in a blowout win for Tartan High (Oakdale, Minn.), then sit in his room after games, fretting over a missed free throw, convinced he'd let everyone down, too ashamed to show his face anywhere but the gym. He'd study all night for a test, then check his answers for the 15th time -- and then, afraid that someone might think he was cheating, make a right answer wrong.

Finally, before his senior year, a therapist diagnosed him with obsessive-compulsive disorder and put him on Zoloft, a medication that has eased his anxiety and depression. With his OCD under control, Sullivan says he feels at peace. He took a week off from training after the Cyclones' disastrous first-round NCAA Tourney loss to Hampton. He made the dean's list this spring. He has a steady girlfriend. And, in talking openly for this article, he is sharing his secret with coaches and teammates for the first time. "I'm not ashamed of it," he says. "Maybe there are other people around the country like me, and if they know I have it, they'll know they're not alone."

Still, his parents haven't forgotten how bad it used to be. They know he'll always walk a fragile line, and that the pressure on him now triples with his move from shooting guard to the point. When you're not particularly tall (six feet), cut (190 pounds) or up (he can't dunk), the search for a competitive edge can leave you doubled over at times. So Jake is staying in Ames this summer to work on his conditioning and ballhandling, while Jane prays the stress doesn't spin him back. "Sometimes I wish he had never played basketball," she admits. "It's too much for him."

But for now at least, it's just enough.

This article appears in the June 11 issue of ESPN The Magazine.