When Steve Burtt Sr. watches his son on the court, he sees a player who has a better jump shot than he did when he was in high school and someone who is more prepared for the college game.

But there’s one thing he had that his son, Steve Burtt Jr. doesn’t have.

“I had more ups than he did,” said the father, who starred at Iona before playing for five years in the NBA. Steve Jr. is now a senior at Rice and has become one of the most consistent players in the city, averaging 13.7 ppg. Still, as his father said, “I could dunk, he can’t.”

That is perhaps the only weakness in Burtt’s game these days. A 6-foot-1 guard, Burtt has transformed from a somewhat overlooked role player into a key component to Rice’s CHSAA city championship team that won the title last Wednesday over All Hallows. Burtt and his teammates will end their season this weekend in Glens Falls. On Friday, Rice will have a rematch against PSAL title-winner Lincoln in the state Federation tournament. And Burtt is a big reason the Raiders will be there.

“It was obvious he had the potential,” said Rice head coach Maurice Hicks. “He had to take advantage of it.”

Which is something his father was famous for.

“I wasn’t the most talented player out there, but I worked as hard as anybody,” said the elder Burtt, whose son was born while he was in college. Father and son stayed close during his well-traveled career and Burtt, Sr. has been to nearly all of Rice’s games. “[Working hard is] what I tried to teach him.”

He didn’t have to.

“Whenever people talk to me about him, they always say how tough he was,” Burtt, Jr. said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to follow in his footsteps, but I want to be able to say that I worked as hard as he did.”

These days, the father doles out pointers after each game.

“It’s great to have him help me out,” said Burtt, who lives with his mother in Harlem, but spent two years living in Trieste, Italy, while his father played there. “It’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t even have to tell me I did something wrong because I already know it.”

He’s already passed his father in terms of high-school success. Burtt, Sr. played less than two years at Hughes H.S. in lower Manhattan. Now, his son will try to make a name for himself in college. Although his recruitment got off to a slow start, it has picked up. Colgate was the only school that showed interest prior to the season, but he has since gotten looks from Brown and Fairfield, while still holding out hope that some other programs will come calling.