GLENDALE, Ariz — The ball was nearly as big as he was, and none of his shots could reach the rim, but that didn’t stop 4-year-old Aaron Estrada from hitting the court with his grandfather, Mike Melton, every morning.

At roughly 6 a.m. Melton would work out at the basketball court near his home in Woodbury, New Jersey. Estrada tagged along, touting a basketball with him.

It was rare to find Estrada without some kind of a ball in his hand. He started walking when he was roughly a year and a half old. Within about six months he was bouncing a ball.

Estrada’s love for basketball was spurred on by a Fisher-Price hoop gifted to him by his grandmother. Melton once saw him drain 18 straight jumpers on the miniature setup. That was one of several backyard feats Estrada pulled off before reaching grade school. There was also the time the 4-year-old tipped a football over his head before catching it behind his back.

“I got it, Pop Pop, I got it,” Estrada exclaimed to Melton at the time. “Did you see that, Pop Pop?”

Melton sure did, and he knew he had something special on his hands.

“I had a vision,” Melton said. “I knew what he had before anybody else knew. I knew what kind of talent he had. He just had a gift, and I saw it at an early age.”

Melton had a way of toughening up Estrada while also being his soft place to fall. He taught his grandson how to ride a bike by the age of 2. During their early workouts Melton would jog behind Estrada catching him whenever he began to wobble.

The phrase “I got you” served as a mantra of reassurance as a young Estrada was developing his own sense of confidence.

“He’d always check with me,” Melton recalled. “We’d be in the backyard and he’d be like ‘Pop Pop, I’m about to climb this tree. You got me?’ I’d laugh and be like ‘I got you, man. Go ahead.”

On the other hand, Melton also taught Estrada how to use his own toughness to overcome the occasional fall. For example, the time he convinced his crying grandson to shake off a painful crash on his bike.

“He really taught me a lot of things,” Estrada said. “He was the first hands-on person for me. He showed me how to be a kid. He was always taking me to have fun and really just let me be myself.”

As he matured, Estrada’s troubles grew more complicated than the occasional bike crash.

Growing up on the south side of New Jersey, the young point guard was often overlooked in favor of higher-profile prospects from the talent-laden northern half of the state. That ultimately led Estrada to transfer to St. Benedict’s Preparatory School during his senior year to get noticed by college scouts.

Unranked as a three-star prospect, he elected to stay home and sign with St. Peter's University. After a promising freshman season, he set out West for a bigger stage at Oregon. However, that move fizzled as he averaged just 3.1 points over nine appearances for the Ducks during his sophomore season.

Nearly 3,000 miles away from his family back home and with his career at a crossroads, Estrada could always rely on a familiar voice to provide positivity over the phone. A simple “don’t worry, I got you” of sorts.

“I just made sure to remind him to be himself,” Melton recalled of his cross-country phone calls to his grandson. “He’s a special kid. I just wanted to get him back to those days when he was having fun on the court and trusting himself and his ability.”

Those pep talks sunk in and played a big part in Estrada reviving his career.

“Him being there and reassuring me really helped me a lot,” Estrada said. “He always kept things positive. He just reminded me to do what I worked for. It’s been a mental battle really, just trying to find myself, but he always told me to trust myself whenever things got tough. Each step of the way I kind of learned more about myself.”

The next stop in Estrada’s winding college journey took him back east to Hempstead, New York where he spent the past two seasons at Hofstra. Along with playing closer to friends and family, he blossomed under head coach Speedy Claxton, earning back-to-back player of the year awards in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Still, after rediscovering himself on the court, Estrada wanted another shot at the big stage and a chance at the NCAA Tournament. Alabama was the first to come calling, as the Tide’s analytics service rated him as the best guard in the transfer portal. Still, there were a few doubters back home who questioned whether how Estrada would fit into Nate Oats’ system.

Estrada earned the nickname “Mid-range King” at Hofstra where he was given free rein on the court as the Pride’s primary scorer. Some doubted whether or not the guard’s game would translate to an offense that discourages the mid-range game. Others feared a step up to the SEC would yield the same results as Estrada’s move to the Pac-12 two years earlier.

Melton wasn’t buying it.

“Aaron, it doesn’t matter if they think you can do it. It matters if you think you can do it,’” Melton recalls advising his grandson. “I know you can do it because I’ve seen you do it. Everywhere you’ve gone you’ve made history. You just got to go there and be Estrada, and you’ll make history.’”

Estrada did just that.

Through 36 games this season, the senior graduate transfer leads Alabama with 4.7 assists per game and ranks second on the team in scoring (13.4 points per game) and rebounds (5.5 per game). He also became just the fourth Crimson Tide player to record a triple-double in a game, tallying 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists during a 103-88 win at Ole Miss.

That success has been fueled by those pregame pep talks from Melton, who has been arguably Estrada’s biggest supporter during his final college season.

Perhaps the most important of those messages came before No. 4 seed Alabama’s Sweet 16 win over No. 1 seed North Carolina, a game where Estrada recorded 19 points and on 9 of 17 shooting. For that one, Melton went with what has become a familiar theme — "be Estrada."

“No one knows you like I know you,” Melton told his grandson. “When you go out there, you can win this game. Just be Estrada. That’s it. That’s all you’ve got to do, and you’ll be a winner.”

Melton won’t be in attendance for Alabama’s Final Four game against top-seeded UConn on Saturday. However, he plans to deliver a similar speech to his grandson before the game.

As for Estrada, he has a message of his own for his biggest fan back home.

“I’ve got you,” Estrada he said with a smile. “I’m going to be me, and I’m going to do what it takes to get the win.”