MADISON, WIS. ? T.J. Ford winced after a tough practice Thursday.

It wasn’t pain that wiped away the seemingly constant smile from one of college basketball’s top freshmen.

That’s always a concern, because Texas’ standout point guard has a nagging ankle sprain and a tender groin. He also has a spinal cord problem which has symptoms ranging from tingling and numbness in limbs to wrenching pain.

No health problem caused this look of dismay, though.

What made the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Ford grimace this time was the suggestion that the University of Texas will always be known as a football factory and not a hardwood haven.

“It’s stereotyped as a football school because the football program’s done better than basketball for so many years,” Ford said. “Everybody just knows about it as a football school. But when I decided to go to Texas, I felt that Texas had a good basketball program.”

And he wants to make it a great one.

“It’s known as a football school. But it’s going to equal out in a couple of years or so,” Ford said.

He went right to work on his dream of transforming Texas from the land of 3 yards and a cloud of dust to a place for alley-oop dunks and darting drives to the basket.

He is on track to become the first freshman to lead the nation in assists, at 8.5 per game, since the NCAA started tracking the statistic in 1983.

And Ford is the primary reason the sixth-seeded Longhorns (22-11) are sharing the stage at the Midwest Regional with perennial heavyweights Kansas and Illinois and the upstart Oregon Ducks, whom the Longhorns play tonight.

Ford has helped the ‘Horns overcome the losses of Maurice Evans  last year’s leading scorer, who left school early for the NBA  and Chris Owens  this year’s leading scorer, who tore up his right knee in December.

Longhorns coach Rick Barnes has run out of accolades for Ford.

“He’s so far ahead in terms of maturity, in terms of the way he sees the game,” Barnes said. “He has a great feel for the way the game should be played, and what’s great about it is I think he knows it should be played the way coaches want it played.”

Oregon coach Ernie Kent said it’s hard to believe Ford is a freshman.

“He does not play like a freshman. He plays beyond his years in terms of his understanding of the game,” Kent said. “I’ve watched several tapes right now and every time you look at it, you come away thinking, ‘My goodness, this is a really, really good basketball player.'”

You think Ford is a coach’s dream? Just listen to his teammates brag about playing with him:

“You have to be ready at all times,” forward Brandon Mouton said. “He does a great job of getting into the defense just using his penetration. And when guys go up and try to help each other, that allows me to get great, open looks.”

And talk about being unselfish.

“I’ve actually even had to tell him at times, ‘You’ve got to shoot the ball more,'” Barnes said. “I have to remind him some because he could go the whole game and not shoot it and feel real good about how many other ways he could affect the game.”

Sophomore guard Royal Ivey, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., paid Ford the ultimate compliment, saying the Houston native who led his high school to consecutive championships in Texas reminds him of the playground legends back home.

“I don’t see a lot of country guys with the handle he has and the flashiness. It’s not common,” Ivey said. “It’s more of a city game when you’re doing all that. He’s great at it.”

Barnes said the most amazing aspect of Ford’s game isn’t his dazzling physical skills or his unmatched mentality.

“For a kid that’s been told his whole life he’s a star, you’d never know that if you’re around him,” Barnes said. “I mean, he’s the most unassuming person I’ve ever been around. He’s just real secure in who he is and what he’s about. He’s extremely tough mentally. Physically, he’s gifted and he’s just scratching the surface of what he can become.”

He could stand to work on his strength and his shot, two things that will make the NBA fall in love with him.

“Those things he’s willing to do,” Barnes said.