For a big man on campus — one of the biggest men, really — to sit in a makeup chair for nearly an hour, then put on a pair of ballet tights and take the stage for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Nutcracker” shows that Quincy Pondexter has a certain level of comfort in his own skin.

So, too, does walking into the Washington locker room to hear about it from players who wondered why their teammate, the one with the least rhythm, was the one chosen to dance, and from trainers who turned him into a tutu-wearing ballerina with an assist from Photoshop.

Pondexter smiles, but not at all sheepishly, about all of this.

It is part of the ride, as much a part of the college experience as being one of the M. C.’s for a black-tie university fund-raiser; finishing his degree in sociology, which he will do this week; or hitting a last-second shot to win an N.C.A.A. tournament game, which he did last week.

In an era when so many of college basketball’s best players view college as a way station to the N.B.A., Pondexter is among the few players with pro prospects who not only stay for four years, but also savor the experience.