Ive Pavin remembers Christopher Kasperian as a freshman.

“He came out for the team as 6-foot-2, 240-pound ninth grader and he looked like a defensive lineman,” said Pavin, then a first-year head coach at Palisades Park. “But you could see how much talent he had.”

By sophomore year, Kasperian was the best player on the team, averaging more than 15 points per game, still at 240 pounds. He also played with an AAU team out of Paterson, coached by Tony Murphy Jr., son of the legendary Eastside and Southern University star Tony Murphy Sr., and himself a fine player at Norfolk State who played professionally in Europe.

“He told me straight up after one of our high school games that the way I knew the game and had the proper footwork that if I lost 60 pounds, it would change me completely as a player,” said Kasperian, The North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week, presented by HSS. “He told me hard work beats talent.”

That talk changed Kasperian’s life.

“I completely changed my lifestyle,” he said. “I changed my diet, I started looking at food as producing energy and I started to work out as much as I could.”

By the time his junior basketball season rolled around, Kasperian looked like a different person and a much better player. He went from 240 pounds to 185, and his game expanded from the post to an all-around scoring machine.

He averaged more than 20 points a game as a junior. This season, as a senior, he’s one of the top scorers in North Jersey, averaging more than 25 points per game as Palisades Park has gone 16-8, its best record in a decade.

“He has a lot more energy and can get up and down the court for 32 minutes,” Pavin said. “He used to be able to go up once to get a rebound and that was it. But now he has an extra gear and can keep battling over and over to grab them.”

Kasperian credits his parents, Joe and Souzi, for helping him in his transformation.

“Armenian food is so good and my mom is such a great cook,” Kasperian said. “Some days I want to eat everything in the pantry.”

But he did his research online and chose the old-fashioned method to lose weight, portion control and increased exercise, and it has worked for him.

“You can’t just stop eating because food is energy and good food creates good energy,” he said. “For me, it’s how many calories I consume and how much protein I get. I can still eat anything I want but I don’t have to eat the whole dish.”

Diet was only half the battle. Kasperian started to hit the gym hard, lifting weights and doing other things to increase his metabolism. He used his own weight room, set up with his father, and went to a nearby gym as many as five times a week.

The results were obvious.

“I was always a little slow on the court, but now my first step is much better and my conditioning allows me to play all 32 minutes of the game like it’s nothing,” he said. “My game has improved inside and out.”

“He’s a one-sport guy, strictly basketball,” Pavin said. “He’s got a good postgame but he can shoot the 3 and get to the foul line eight or nine times a game. He wants to play at the next level and at the right place, can play there.”

His desire to play is evident. Palisades Park has a program for seniors in which they can finish class by 11 a.m. if they have enough credits. Kasperian has four hours between the end of class and the beginning of practice or a game. He spends that time doing 13,000 to 15,000 steps a day, on the treadmill or walking, and hitting the gym.

“I want to study business in college and I just want a chance to play,” he said.

Christopher Kasparian

Sport: Basketball

School: Palisades Park

Class: Senior. Age: 18

Accomplishment: Scored 47 points, grabbed 24 rebounds, had eight assists and three blocks in wins against Ridgefield and Hasbrouck Heights, hitting the game winner at the buzzer in the latter game.