It may be hard to believe, but Terrell Owens and Steve Mariucci seem to be getting along.

Less than a year after the two quit talking to one another, Owens is calling his coach “the greatest guy in the world,” Mariucci is letting his star receiver pursue his hoop dreams and Owens is even using Mariucci’s friendly nickname “Mooch” when speaking of the coach who has publicly criticized him.

Owens says he’s over the pair’s past problems. He doesn’t hold any hard feelings over the suspension given to him by Mariucci for what the coach deemed inappropriate touchdown dances, and he said the two have been talking.

“Things happen at certain times, and emotions at the time are running wild, but at this point, I’m happy,” Owens said in an Associated Press article Friday. “Mooch and I have talked about it. I think it was a lack of communication on both parts.”

And so it seems the two have called a truce, however strange the timing might be.

Next weekend, Owens, the 49ers’ All-Pro receiver, will begin his professional basketball career with the USBL’s Adirondack Wildcats.

The 6-foot-3 shooting guard will be risking injury and his $4 million football paycheck to play the sport he played for three seasons in college at Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Owens is set to play in the Wildcats’ home opener Friday night and seven to nine games after that. He said if things go well, he just might try the NBA.

And his coach’s reaction?

“Obviously, you’d prefer your guys to think about football all year round … but we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope that he stays healthy and has some fun,” Mariucci said.

It just doesn’t sound like the same guy who fired back in the media after Owens criticized Mariucci’s play-calling, his relationships with other coaches and Owens’ prominence in the 49ers offensive scheme.

But maybe it’s not. It could be a front for what’s really going on.

After all, the 49ers did send a letter to Owens’ agent David Joseph, in which they outlined their concerns with him playing in the basketball league. And general manager Terry Donahue didn’t react too highly to Owens taking his talents to a different sport.

“I don’t think Donahue is taking it too well,” Owens said.

Quarterback Jeff Garcia also seems a little worried.

“Whatever he decides, I just hope he thinks of the team also,” Garcia said.

But not Mariucci.

He won’t say whether he supports Owens’ decision to play basketball, instead avoiding any questions relating to the subject.

It may be that the coach is content with how things are going, but maybe things aren’t as peachy as the player and coach are making it out to be.

Almost everyone else – from team personnel to sports commentators – seems to have an opinion on the subject: Why doesn’t Mariucci?

And it could be that it just isn’t going to matter.

More likely than not, Owens will go play basketball, find out he’s better at football and go back to the 49ers after avoiding any injury.

But sports leave a lot of room for error. Injuries happen faster than coaches can speak of them.

If Owens does happen to get injured during his time with the Wildcats, the 49ers probably wouldn’t have to pay his salary, meaning no money for Owens since he’s donating what little he will make playing basketball to charity. That’s a lot of money for Owens to risk for eight basketball games.

Too bad we’ll never find out how Mariucci feels about it.

Emily Arthur is a junior in journalism and mass communications from Clark, S.D. She is the assistant sports editor of the Daily.