Cullen Moss

In a small North Carolina town, two estranged half-brothers carry on very different lives. Basketball prodigy Nathan Scott has inherited the throne of high school popularity, while Lucas Scott, also a talented player, stays an outsider.

Lucas blows his first varsity game and decides to quit the team; Keith forces Karen to deal with her feelings for Dan.

Nathan searches for a way to get back at Lucas when he becomes frustrated with his growing popularity; Lucas submits Peyton's drawings to the newspaper without her knowledge.

Lucas and Nathan bear Dan's abuse as he coaches them into the playoffs, pushing them both to the breaking point; after Dan threatens her, Haley reconsiders her relationship with Nathan; Whitey learns his medical condition is serious.

Brooke and Peyton crash a college party, but things turn ugly when one of the guys in the dorm drugs Peyton; Haley gives Nathan another chance.

Estranged spouses Nathan and Haley have trouble adjusting as classmates on the first day of their senior year.