Moon Township, Pa. - Karvel Anderson's road to Robert Morris University was long and winding and, yes, even treacherous a time or two.

"He's been through a lot,'' said Steve Proefrock, Anderson's coach last season at Glen Oaks Community College. "Nothing's going to scare him.''

"It's not that it (would) scare me,'' Anderson said. "But anything that I could go through on the court would never (compare) to what I've been through.''

Anderson's road to Robert Morris began in high school in Elkhart, Ind., wound through El Dorado, Kansas, where he played at Butler Community College, continued through Centreville, Mich., where he played for Proefrock and Glen Oaks Community College, took him to South Bend, Ind., for an unexpected overnight stay in the airport and then back to Elkhart, where he spent several hours on a late summer day stuck on a street with two flat tires on his car after barely beginning the drive to Moon Township.

"He had a lot of interesting things happen to him on his quest to get here," head coach Andrew Toole said.

The overnight stay in the South Bend airport and the two flat tires were minor inconveniences compared to earlier situations Anderson faced.

He never knew his father. His mother spent time in prison.

"My family situation had been kind of different since eighth grade,'' Anderson said. "I was going down a bad path.''

"If it weren't for sports, he definitely wouldn't be the man he is,'' Proefrock said. "It's incredible. He's so positive. He has a great sense of self. Great self-esteem.''

"I met the right people, people who have looked out for me and really helped me,'' Anderson said. "A lot of people mentored me. And I'm here.''

Let's begin with his grandparents -- Pamela and Paul Adams.

"They really supported him,'' Proefrock said. "They gave him a place to stay.''

After one year at Butler Community College, Anderson was able to begin repaying his grandparents for their support.

He transferred to Glen Oaks and joined Proefrock, who recruited him out of high school.

Last December, Pamela Adams came down with pneumonia. Because his grandfather worked two jobs, Anderson went from practice at Glen Oaks to Elkhart, a 35-minute drive one way, each afternoon and evening Monday through Friday to care for his grandmother until his grandfather got off work.

"I was glad that I was that close,'' Anderson said. "At the time, I didn't have a car, so that was a struggle for me.''

However, Glen Oaks teammate and relative Khalid Jackson did have a car, so he would drive Anderson to Elkhart. Proefrock allowed Anderson and Jackson to leave practice 15 or 20 minutes early to make the drive.

"I know that was hard for Coach Proe,''' Anderson said. "But he was very helpful. He knew my family situation.''

In addition to caring for his grandmother and working on his academics, Anderson also did pretty well on the court. Last season, the 6'2" guard averaged 24.9 points per game and shot 48 percent from the field, including 43 percent from beyond the arc. He also shot 83 percent from the free throw line.

"We had a lot of injuries, and he was our only double-figure scorer,'' Proefrock said. "All the opposition had to stop was one guy, and they couldn't do it.''

Schoolcraft College sure couldn't do it.

Last Dec. 30, Anderson dropped 54 points on the Ocelots, making 17-of-34 shots from the field, including 6-for-11 from deep, and 14-of-15 free throws.

"Their guards had a rough time guarding him,'' Proefrock said. "They had no match for him. He was in a zone.''

In more ways than one.

It was the day before that his grandmother was diagnosed with pneumonia.

"It was on her birthday,'' Anderson said. "The entire night, my cousin and I were there with her. They said they didn't know if she was going to make it. Her body was very weak. It was like it was breaking down. It was hard for me.''

The next day, Anderson went back to Glen Oaks for the afternoon game. Proefrock gave him the option of not playing so he could back to his grandmother.

"I'm in the locker room and I'm almost in tears,'' Anderson said.

Eventually, the two decided Anderson would play, then return home.

"When the game started, I was nervous,'' Anderson said. "I was sweating. It was hard to breathe.''

In the first couple of minutes, he threw up an air ball, followed by a missed lay-up on a fast break.

Proefrock subbed for him.

"Coach Proe had this thing that if I started off slow, he would take me out to give me a minute or two to calm down,'' Anderson said. "It helped me get my composure."

When Anderson returned to the game, Schoolcraft double-teamed him full court. It tried zone defenses. A box-and-one.

Nothing worked.

"He had one of those games,'' Proefrock said.

He had another less than a month later. On Jan. 25, he popped in 44 points against Muskegon Community College.

It was becoming time for Anderson to consider a school for the next stage of his career.

Enter RMU assistant coach Mike Byrnes. While watching a prep school game in Virginia, Byrnes ran into James Johnson, then an assistant coach at Virginia Tech and now the Hokies' head coach. Johnson had a DVD of Anderson. Byrnes brought the DVD back to Robert Morris.

Toole watched the tape and decided it was worth a trip to Glen Oaks to see Anderson in a workout situation.

"We decided to bring him down for a visit,'' Toole said.

That did not go smoothly. Not in the slightest.

On his way to the South Bend airport for a Friday morning flight to Pittsburgh, the car in which Anderson rode was struck by a drunk driver.

"It was crazy,'' Anderson said. "It was a four-lane highway with wide side entrances, and he turned out of a street into the ongoing traffic.''

After doing police reports and visiting a hospital because his knees had been banged, Anderson again started for the airport.

But he missed his flight.

"I barely missed it,'' Anderson said. "They actually closed the boarding doors while I'm running to the plane.''

After changing his ticket for a flight the next morning, Anderson decided not to return to Glen Oaks.

"Especially with the way my day was already going,'' he said.

He stayed at the airport overnight, talking on his phone - including a conversation with Toole.

"He stayed on with me for a while and helped me through,'' Anderson said.

The next day, Anderson made it to Robert Morris sans sleep.

He took the campus tour, went to the Charles L. Sewall Center and then got back on a plane for the return trip.

"It was rough, especially not having any sleep,'' he said. "But I had a scholarship, so I would say I had a pretty good day. Somehow I managed to come out on top of that situation.''

Several weeks later, he readied himself for the trip to Robert Morris to start school. But there was still the matter of getting his eligibility cleared by the NCAA.

"Prolonged,'' Anderson said of that process. "It took forever to clear.''

He wasn't cleared until the Tuesday night before he was to leave for Robert Morris on a Wednesday morning.

"For some reason with me, it's always been some type of obstacle whenever I'm trying to do something,'' Anderson said. "It's kind of crazy.''

On that Wednesday morning, Anderson drove out of his driveway and got out of his neighborhood. However, he didn't make it to the Indiana Toll Road.

The tires he'd just bought didn't permit that.

First, the right front tire went flat. As he turned to park his car by a curb, Anderson felt the left front tire go.

"It actually shredded,'' he said. "I got the tires from a junkyard just to get something quick so I could make the trip. I think the tires weren't really too good. I'd just called coach Toole 30 minutes before and said, 'Hey, I'm on my way, coach. I'll be there in five and-a-half hours.'''

Toole said Anderson had to wait three hours before he was able to get help and start on his trip again.

In this case, the second time was the charm.

Still, Anderson couldn't help wondering if - in light of all that had happened - maybe he wasn't supposed to be at Robert Morris.

"I asked coach Byrnes that,'' Anderson said. "It wasn't in a negative way. It was just like every time I was supposed to come to Robert Morris, there was something that stopped me from coming. I asked him, 'What is it?' We had those conversations over and over. But because of the type of people they are here and the type of person I am, it didn't matter.''

Anderson paused for a moment, then remembered what Toole said when he asked the head coach about all his difficulties getting to Robert Morris.

"He told me,'' Anderson said, grinning, '''It just means you need to work harder to get here.'''

Anderson had heard about Robert Morris because one of his assistant coaches in high school kept up with recruiting and which teams did well. However, Anderson's RMU knowledge was sketchy.

"I had known of Robert Morris,'' he said, "but I didn't really know anything about Robert Morris. I knew about when they made it to the NCAA Tournament, but I didn't know any player on this team or Andy Toole. When you tell somebody you didn't know who Velton Jones is, it's probably a shock. But I had no idea who these people were.''

Didn't matter.

"Robert Morris was the right fit for him,'' Proefrock said. "He has what they need, and Robert Morris is what he needs.''

Anderson should provide the Colonials with a more-than-capable backup for veteran shooting guard Coron Williams.

"He reads screens really well, and he has a knack for getting open,'' Proefrock said. "He's a very mature, intelligent, heady player. He's a voracious competitor. He's going to stretch the defense. You have to guard him. You just cannot let him go.''

Anderson's life is much better now. His grandmother pulled through her bout with pneumonia. He's on better terms with his mother. And he's at Robert Morris, getting ready to play Division I basketball.

"Coach Proe mentored me a lot - and not just with basketball,'' Anderson said. "He took care of me last year. It's kind of what drew me to coach Toole. Their styles when it has nothing to do with basketball is remarkable. They really care about what's going on outside of basketball, whether it's academics or anything.''

Although he's been a standout scorer throughout his career, Anderson seems well aware that he might not fill that role with the Colonials. He might not average 20 points a game. Or even 15.

"I just want to be a contributor,'' he said. "I got here and the first thing they preached to me was this thing called 'Team.' That's something I'd never had before. I'd never had a complete team before.''

And there's the Colonial defense, which Anderson will have to learn.

"The defense is the complete opposite of everything I've ever been taught in my entire life,'' he said. "Our defense here is crazy. The scheme is crazy. The speed of defense here is nothing compared to anything I've seen. The Schoolcraft defense, to me, was good, but that was nothing compared to the defense that we play here. It's so sped up. We watch our defense here on film, and you think somebody's fast-forwarding the tape. It's just amazing. It's completely different than junior college. I'm still in the transition period. I'm still learning how to attack it offensively and how to be one of these defensive demons that has made this program successful.''

Anderson paused again, reflecting on his life to this point. Its ups and downs. Its peaks and its valleys.

"A lot of those things, I wonder if I would be here if I wouldn't have gone through the things that I had to go through,'' he said. "I had a lot of help. I'm here. And if you look on my phone, there are a lot of pictures of Robert Morris, anything Robert Morris. I'm really proud to be a part of this. I'm proud to be part of this family. It's something that I'm never going to forget. I'm grateful that I got to be here.''

Finally.