The Christmas gift Justin Jeangerard is most eagerly anticipating is newly discovered footage of his grandfather playing Olympic basketball.

“I’m excited to go home for Christmas to watch it,” said Justin, who is from Weaverville, Calif. “My dad has seen some of it, and he said half of them shot granny free throws.”

Justin, a 6-3 freshman who starts at shooting guard for Division II Nova Southeastern University, has great basketball lineage.

His grandfather, Robert Jeangerard, won a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. He finished second on the U.S. team in scoring, sandwiched between Hall of Famers Bill Russell (14.1 points) and K.C. Jones (10.9).

Jeangerard, who averaged 12.5 points, also served as an usher at Russell’s first wedding, right after the Olympics.

“Back then, pro basketball players didn’t make much money,” Justin, 18, said of the NBA, which was less than a decade old at the time. “[Russell’s Olympic teammates] had to chip in and pay travel expenses for his wedding.”

Times have changed, of course. NBA stars can now afford lavish weddings and extravagant honeymoons.

Jeangerard, 78, has lived an amazing life of his own, serving in the military, becoming a lawyer and creating a business empire. But he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease several years ago and is now in an assisted-living facility in Belmont, Calif.

He rarely recognizes family members, and his wife, Margie — his high school sweetheart since their days in Wilmette, Ill. — died several months ago.

“It’s rough,” Justin said. “But he is still in great shape physically [at 175 pounds]. He walks all day, and he’s always smiling.”

Justin has long admired his grandfather. When Justin was about 10, he asked him for basketball tips.

Jeangerard gave him his workout sheet, which he told Justin to follow daily. It consisted of 50 layups right-handed, 50 layups left-handed, 50 free throws and so forth, culminating with a mile run uphill.

The sheet must have worked. Justin became a multisport star in football (quarterback), baseball (pitcher and shortstop) and soccer (forward).

Lure of basketball

Basketball, however, was his true love. He led Trinity High to its first-ever sectional title and graduated as the school’s career leader in scoring, rebounds, steals and assists. He also set the school record with a 51-point game.

But despite his success, Justin didn’t receive any Division I scholarship offers. His father, Bob, believes there were two issues: Justin’s age and his location.

Justin was 17 when he graduated, and some colleges wanted him to spend a year in prep school so he’d be older upon arrival. But with a 4.59 grade-point average that ranked second in his class, Justin’s parents believed prep school would have been a waste of time.

The second issue was Weaverville, a remote town of 3,500, located two hours from the Oregon border and 3 1/2 hours from Sacramento. Justin once told Nova coach Gary Tuell that he encountered a bear while doing a training run near his house.

“I’m thinking we’re going to lose this kid we like to a bear,” said Tuell, who was urged by a friend to recruit Justin. “So I looked for Weaverville on a map, and I couldn’t find it. The town has a 7-11, but it’s only open from 9 to 6.”

Turning serious, Tuell said of his top three-point shooter: “If he lived in Los Angeles or San Francisco, we’d never have gotten him.”

The right genes

And if not for the genes passed down from his grandfather, Justin may not be such a promising prospect.

His grandfather, who was a 6-4 forward, was a two-time All-Big Eight selection at the University of Colorado and was named MVP of the NCAA’s 1955 Western Regional. In 1959, he led the U.S. to a gold medal in the Pan-Am Games, teaming with Jerry West and Oscar Robertson.

Justin said his grandfather was the “king of the rec leagues” well into his 50s, but he never played pro ball.

“He was in love with my grand mom, and he wanted to start a family,” Justin said of Jeangerard, whose jersey number was retired at Colorado after leading the Buffs to what still stands as their only Final Four appearance . “He was an Air Force pilot, and then he opened a tire company with two of his brothers. He made money when a tire chain bought him out.

“My grandfather is brilliant. While he was managing the tire company, he went to law school and became an attorney.”

Justin said his grandfather was proud of his gold medals but would never talk about it unless asked.

“I feel blessed to know the guy,” Justin said, “and even more blessed to know he’s my grandpa.”