NORMAL -- As his Illinois State teammates somberly viewed Ground Zero in New York City last Friday night, Anthony Slack wandered off alone. "It kind of brought me back from this tragedy to what happened to me," said the 6-foot-7 junior forward.

"I sat down and reminisced about everything bad that happened. I needed some time to myself to regroup."

Slack's hometown is New Orleans.

His tragedy was Hurricane Katrina.

ISU (3-2) prepares to entertain Sacramento State (4-3) at 7:05 tonight at Redbird Arena. Slack's family won't be at the game, but he's cool with that.

They are safe, and that's all that matters.

Slack spent the longest week of his life after Katrina battered the Gulf Coast in late August 2005. He was in his sophomore year at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. Slack was unable to reach his mother, Christine Slack. He didn't know whether his mother, grandmother and sisters had made it out of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward.

"It was kind of bad. When it happened I was in practice," said Slack. "I got out and could not get in contact with my family. I started stressing out."

What Slack didn't know was his mother and other family members went to a hotel in downtown New Orleans before the hurricane struck and were safe. Christine Slack said she thought all would be fine in a couple days.

However, the levy near the Slack's home soon broke. Christine Slack and other family members were able to rent some cars and drove to her nephew's home in Arkansas.

"The magnitude didn't hit until we got to Arkansas and looked at the news and saw what we left behind," she said.

Christine Slack left Anthony a message that everyone was fine. A Coffeyville booster later drove Slack to Arkansas so he could spend some time with his family.

Coffeyville also took up a donation for the Slack family and raised more than $1,200.

"I tell them every time I talk to them I appreciate that," said Slack.

When Christine Slack finally went back to her home in February, she fully gripped the impact. The water line rested an inch from the ceiling. The house was completely destroyed. She moved to a different neighborhood.

Christine Slack was able to salvage Anthony's senior prom picture and his high school diploma.

"I told her as long as they got out material things could be replaced," said Anthony Slack.

Slack returned to his hometown for the first time in May after graduating from Coffeyville. He wasn't prepared for what he saw and left after a week.

"Stuff was still messed up. There were still houses in the middle of the street," he said. "One of the things that made me mad was they had tours going on. They're trying to fix things and they're not doing it fast enough, but yet they allow people to come in and see all the wreckage."

In a strange twist, Slack said Hurricane Katrina has brought his mother and him closer together.

Slack said he has never known his father. His grandparents, Pat and Jackie Slack, helped raise him as his mother worked two or three jobs.

Pat Slack was the father figure he never had. His grandfather died in the mid-1990s. Slack has tattoos of his grandparents on his back and touches them before every game.

In his junior year of high school, Slack moved into a cousin's house in the Lower Ninth Ward because of disagreements with his mother. That's when he became serious about basketball.

Christine Slack said she saw basketball as a way for her son to avoid trouble in the streets and asked Anthony's coach to keep an eye on him.

"It taught him to be responsible and be consistent," she said.

Christine Slack suffers from congestive heart failure. Anthony Slack knows there will come a day when she can not work and he will need to take care of her.

"When Hurricane Katrina hit, that's when we really settled down and really talked," said Slack.

Slack has nicely settled into ISU's lineup. He is averaging a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game to go with 9.2 points and 1.6 blocks. A day after being at Ground Zero, Slack contributed 10 points and seven rebounds as ISU won its third straight game in upsetting St. John's 78-65.

One thing ISU coach Porter Moser doesn't have to worry about is Slack's effort. Moser believes Slack could average a double-double this season or next.

"He gives us energy and makes energy plays. He gets us playing up-tempo," said Moser. "One thing he does is get rebounds in traffic. Some guys get rebounds and pad their stats off missed free throws or when no one is around. When a scrum is going on, Anthony is so long he comes out of it with the rebound."

Moser said it was important for his players to see Ground Zero. Coaches are "blessed being able to take advantage of these teaching moments," he said. Moser knew Slack would be more affected than his other players because of Hurricane Katrina.

"All you can do is admire him for his strength and courage to fight through it," he said.