SHORELINE — Chris Faidley is beginning to see a trickle of letters from colleges and universities around the country fill his family mailbox. They all want to know if he would be interested in playing basketball for them.

That trickle could become a torrent as word gets out about Faidley’s performance at last week’s state Class 1A basketball tournament.

He averaged 27 points a game over four games, including a game-high 42 in the consolation final, nearly single-handedly outscoring the opposition.

In that same game he came within a bucket of setting a new mark for most 3-point baskets in a tournament game. He was a first-team, all-tournament selection for the second year in a row.

To play college basketball “would be a dream” according to Faidley. A dream that has its roots borne over a decade ago when Faidley may have become one of the first of a generation that will benefit indirectly from the enactment of Title IX, the federal gender quality statute, 31 years ago.

Faidley proudly points to his mom, Lisa, as the one who taught him how to shoot.

“She coached my teams through junior high,” he said.

She still plays a role today.

“She has keys to the gym and sometimes comes and shoots with me,” Faidley said.

Lisa Faidley is no pretender to basketball knowledge. She is a bona fide player, having been on teams at the now closed Lincoln High School in Seattle before playing collegiate ball at Central Washington University. She now works as a teacher in the Shoreline School District.

Dad Rory played a role as well, teaching Chris the fundamentals of team sports, something cherished by the younger Faidley.

“He helped coach little league football,” said Faidley. “I have learned so much from team sports, I hope that if I have children someday they will try it, any of them — soccer, football, basketball, just for what it teaches you. Competition is a good thing when done the right way.”

Faidley excels in football and track as well as shooting hoops. He is the captain and quarterback of the King’s football team.

When you talk to people who spend a lot of time with Faidley, you always hear one word — confidence.

“He is a confident kid,” King’s basketball coach Marv Morris said. “That is part of what makes him a great player.”

King’s Schools superintendent and girls basketball coach Eric Rasmussen agrees.

“He gets a lot of it from success in athletics,” said Rasmussen.

Faidley may be confident but he is not cocky. He’d be the first to tell you that all is not perfect in his world.

“I am working on getting my grades up to a 3.5,” Faidley said. “Until I do that, my parents won’t let me get my driver’s license.”

He also knows that improved grades will help him in his search for a college program.

“I don’t want my grades to be a factor in having a school look at me,” he said.

Faidley, now half-way through his junior year, has a cumulative average in the neighborhood of a 3.0.

The years of schooling in the King’s system have made for an introspective student-athlete.

Rather than be sore about not setting a record at the state tournament, he’ll tell you about the great players he had to go against to get as far as he did. Not in some patronizing way, but in a way that tells you he knows them and considers them friends.

Ask most kids of his stature what they want to be doing in 10 years and they will tell you they want something aggressive, something competitive like being a lawyer.

Not this kid.

He has taken stock of his capabilities, his athleticism, his leadership skills, his competitive nature, his smarts and his desire to help others.

Ten years from now, Chris Faidley wants to be one of the heroes of the new millennium, a firefighter.

But first, there is that senior year and another shot at the title.