Santa Clara did a very nice thing Monday afternoon. Steve Nash did a very nice thing, too.

The school invited him to give the convocation's keynote speech and honored him by retiring his basketball jersey. A banner with his likeness was also hoisted to the arena rafters.

Nash responded by giving a relaxed, informal speech -- without prepared notes -- that expressed his gratitude to the school. Earlier, he had joked: ``I have to admit that I majored in basketball here.'' But in his remarks, Nash mentioned a favorite teacher, Professor Marilyn Fernandez, and encouraged students to never think of themselves as just one small piece of the human puzzle but as someone with the power to do good on the planet.

This, Nash said, was the lesson he took away from Santa Clara, along with his sociology degree. Nash did not mention that he has backed up his words with actions. But they speak for themselves. Three years after his graduation in 1996, long before he was an NBA superstar, Nash established the Jim Jennings Memorial Endowment Fund, honoring a longtime volunteer on the Santa Clara athletic staff. In 2001, he also created the Steve Nash Foundation to aid underprivileged children.