Choirboy, ladies' man, gym rat, Internet fanatic and coach's pet ...

C.J. Watson has spent four years playing basketball at Tennessee, and his persona is as tough to peg as he is to guard.

On the court, Watson has established himself as one of the most-prolific point guards in UT history, rising to No. 2 on the all-time lists for assists and steals without much fanfare.

Part of that has to do with the Vols' relative lack of success entering this season; another part could be credited to his demeanor. Ask a question, you get a one-sentence answer, sometimes, maybe two.

Watson's playing style, however, speaks loudly for his talents.

Voted the most-competitive player by his teammates, Watson plays with an interior fire, whether he's dislodging a tooth from the mouth of Florida forward Joakim Noah, as he did with a sharp elbow Wednesday, or battling teammate Chris Lofton in a free-throw contest after practice.

As a junior in high school, Watson had the nickname "Quiet Storm'' tattooed on his right arm. It didn't go over too well with his parents, Charles and Cathy, at first.

But then, they knew C.J. wouldn't stray too far from the foundation in his life.

"C.J. is very religious at heart,'' said Cathy Watson, a social worker for outreach programs in Las Vegas. "He got the valedictorian in two years of the school of evangelism at our church, Second Baptist in Las Vegas. He was a junior layman; he went to the Bible bowl and competed.''

Watson can recite scripture as effortlessly as he releases jump shots.

His favorite verse: Psalms 23: "The Lord is my shepherd ...''

"I stay involved in church all the time and help out any way I can,'' Watson said. "I love to read the Bible. I have Bible study once every week with my pastor.''

Watson said he prays three or four times a day, including during basketball games: "Sometimes it helps.''

Charles Watson believes the Lord blessed C.J. this season with the introduction of Bruce Pearl as UT's new head coach.

"It's hard to be a winner, come to a program with high expectations, and then see things go downhill,'' Charles said. "It was very frustrating for him to fight through that, but C.J. knew if he kept working hard, something good would come out of it.

"God was listening (to the prayers), and Bruce Pearl came along.''

Immediately, the perceived shackles Watson felt he was playing with under Buzz Peterson were removed.

"Coach Pearl said 'Play your game,' " C.J. said.

And that meant shooting it more, as he did in leading Bishop Gorman High School to two Nevada state championships and twice winning Gatorade Player of the Year honors.

Watson worked particularly hard on his game entering this season, staying after practice most every day to groom his jump shot.

"You see him in the gym every night,'' backup point guard Jordan Howell said. "He's not a guy who talks a big game, but C.J. has a desire to be great.''

According to guard JaJuan Smith, Watson's not afraid to talk game with the ladies.

"They say he's the Quiet Storm, but he has a mouthpiece on him,'' Smith said. "C.J. is a ladies' man. When a pretty girl comes through, that's when you hear it. If I'm out, and I see a girl who's hot, she'll ask me where C.J. is.''

He might be checking out the Rivals.com point guard ratings on the Internet.

"Let's just say he has a special relationship with his sidekick cell phone,'' teammate Dane Bradshaw said. "You always see him on it on the Internet.''

Watson found motivation for the Florida game after the rankings dropped him below Alabama point guard Ronald Steele in the wake of the Vols' loss to the Tide.

"They said Steele outplayed me,'' Watson said, the sour look on his face saying more than the words.

Watson's still doing a slow burn over the loss to Arkansas. When will he get over it?

"Probably not until the start of the (Kentucky) game Wednesday night,'' Watson said.

Pearl identified his point guard's competitive drive early on, and he has loved every moment of it.

"He goes by Quiet Storm, but I call him the Perfect Storm,'' Pearl said. "This league has the best point guards in the nation, so CJ's got to bring it every single day and night, and he does on most all occasions.

"There's the statistic we were 17-0 (now 17-1) leading with five minutes to go, and that's all point-guard play. You like having that extension of yourself and what you want to do on the floor.''