The list is long.

Cartwright. Clark. Copeland. Fort. Helwig. Hoffman. Johnson. Pickard. Williams.

Those are not just names of friends Josh Dubble has come to know as South Kitsap’s sometimes starting guard. They also are some of the homes at which the senior has stayed after games and other nights as a homeless high-schooler.

Dubble said the problems began when he was in sixth grade and his mother, Beth, had “a breakdown.”

“She was always out at the casino,” he said, “and me and my brother were home alone for weekends at a time.”

Family alternatives were limited. Dubble said he has never met his father, while his grandmother was plagued with the same gambling addiction as his mother.

He frequently found himself staying with the Hoffman family, which had a pair of sons, Corey and John, who played basketball for the Wolves during the 2007-08 season.

“I just hated being there because no one was there,” Dubble said of his own home. “I wanted a family, so I would go to my friends’ house and they were like my family.”

He said he finally moved out permanently as a freshman at Marcus Whitman Junior High when his mother, who he said was looking for a new beginning, contemplated moving to Pennsylvania. Dubble, who was born in Olympia, said he attended about 20 schools in England, Texas and Washington before settling in Port Orchard when he was in third grade.

“Every night is a different night,” said Dubble, who lived with Olympic College women’s basketball coach and South teacher Tammy Helwig and her husband over the summer. “You don’t know where you’re going to find your next meal or where you’re going to sleep tonight. It’s just a struggle. It’s been like that pretty much since ninth grade.”

Dubble said he tries to look “forward instead of backward,” but that the situation has been difficult at times. He acknowledged that he checked into a mental-health facility as a sophomore for around 10 days.

“Just seeing my mom fall down kind of got to me,” he said. “Not having anyone to turn to … I just kind of fell apart.”

One constant in his life has been basketball — but Dubble has faced adversity in that sport as well. He only is 5 foot 8 and is not an elite athlete.

Those traits differ about as much as possible from former Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan, who is 6 foot 6 and athletic enough to win the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest in 1987 and ’88. Dubble considers Jordan as one of his heroes.

But Dubble can relate to Jordan in another way. As a sophomore at Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C., Jordan was cut from the varsity squad.

“They were wrong; I’m going to keep working,” said Dubble, referring to Jordan’s attitude. “That’s my philosophy, too.”

Dubble never played a minute on varsity before this season. He notes that he is only one of two varsity players, along with senior wing Chris Blue, who advanced from the C-team in 2007-08 to coach John Callaghan’s team this season. Dubble played on junior varsity last season.

“He stays focused,” said Callaghan, adding that he loves Dubble’s sense of humor and work ethic. “For what he’s had to do to survive, it’s pretty impressive.”

Dubble credits that to his determination, in addition to those who have lent him support.

“There were always people who believed in me,” Dubble said. “I always had good people around to pretty much keep me on the right track.”

The latter part is a path on which Dubble hopes to remain. He said he fell behind in credits as a sophomore when he was home-schooled — Dubble said he was being harassed online — and is hoping to save enough money to take Internet classes.

Dubble, who was being home-schooled by his mother at the time, also hopes to eventually move back in with her at some point. She taught math at John Sedgwick Junior High from 2000-04. He said she was released Monday from a mental institution in the region.

“My mom wants to start over,” Dubble said. “Your mom is your mom and you always are going to love her. She was always working hard and is a strong woman.”

He hopes to play basketball beyond high school, perhaps at a community college, and notes that he hopes he inherited the same “gene” as an uncle, who grew about six inches following graduation to 6 foot 2.

Dubble said he has read books by former UCLA coaching legend John Wooden and he might be interested in teaching the game when his playing days end. Callaghan said he could envision Dubble coaching.

“Josh genuinely loves the game,” he said. “We practically have to kick him out of the gym. I would not be surprised to see him coach someday.”

But wherever he goes, Dubble’s mother never will be far from his thoughts.

“I just want to do something with my life so I can help her out,” he said. “She always worked hard. I picked up a lot from her.”