Jon Brockman calls himself an outdoorsy guy, someone who finds solace in hiking in the woods and fishing out on the river. It is in these serene settings that Brockman, alone, finds his escape during a rare break from basketball.

The only reminder of his life at the UW is found on the senior forward’s face — a nose rearranged by five fractures and a faint scar below his left eye, courtesy of a Glen “Big Baby” Davis fingernail.

On the court, Brockman, a rebounding machine, is anything but tranquil. UCLA coach Ben Howland called him a bull and a beast last season. Jim Marsh, Brockman’s AAU coach, once described his play as maniacal.

This rough and tumble Snohomish, Wash. native is on the verge of becoming the Huskies all-time leading rebounder, needing just 160 to surpass Doug Smart who played from 1956-1959. He also comes into the season as the nation’s top returning rebounder with 11.6 per game.

“A lot of times the ball is up there and I just have no regard for my body or the people standing around me,” Brockman said of his rebounding philosophy. “Whether they’re my teammates or the other team. Elbows are flying and sometimes people get in the way.”

But no matter what others make of him and his play, the 6-foot-7-inch, 255-pound Brockman says he’s not too tough to lean on his mom for support.

She’s not the biggest basketball fan in the world, but for Brockman, that’s just perfect.

“Oftentimes everyone’s asking me about basketball when my mom just really wants to know what’s going on with me, how I’m doing, how I’m holding up,” Brockman said. “I guess that’s what a mom is definitely for.”

His workman-like attitude is something Brockman says he picked up from his dad while mowing the lawn growing up back home.

“Why would you do a bad job when in the same amount of time you can do a great job and make it look that much better,” Gordy Brockman told his son.

Brockman is the youngest of four children, and more times than not, found­ ­himself getting beat up by his brothers and sisters early on. He says he was fat until 7th grade, and that his siblings were better than him at basketball and any game they’d play.

They were taller and more athletic. To win, he needed to outwork them, he said.

Brockman’s older sister Kirsten lettered at the UW in basketball for one year when Jon was in 8th grade. He had the chance to visit and attend Husky football games and basketball games. But as Brockman emerged as a top national prospect in high school, he thought hard about leaving the area.

He visited different schools in California and on the East Coast. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski even came to his house. Eventually, Brockman realized he was a “hometown boy.” His entire family lived in Western Washington, as did his friends. He saw the Huskies’ success and he wanted to play for coach Romar.

“It was a no-brainer,” he said of his decision to attend Washington.

Four years later, Brockman comes into 2008 as pre-season All-American. He says his biggest regret is missing out on the NCAA tournament in consecutive years. He did his part to change that in the offseason.

“Jon is 250 pounds and he looks like he’s about 230 pounds,” Romar said. “He’s just got a Doberman-sleek type look about him now and if anything he’s stronger, but yet I think he’s quicker and he is highly, highly motivated.”

Reach reporter Maks Goldenshteyn at sports@dailyuw.com.