After failing in his first varsity basketball game, Lucas decides to quit the team.
Hoping to have fun, Brooke and Peyton attend a college party, but the situation gets bad when one of the guys, Gabe (Mike Erwin - "Everwood"), drugs Peyton.
After a particularly spectacular basketball game, Lucas quickly supplants Nathan as the team's most popular player.
Lucas and Nathan bear the brunt of Dan's abuse as he coaches them into the playoffs, pushing both of them to their emotional breaking points.
Nathan is discharged from the hospital and returns home to a pile of unpaid bills and an eviction notice. Lucas, Peyton and Brooke host a fund-raiser at the River Court to help Nathan; however, Dan also comes to Nathan's rescue. But Dan's gift comes with an ultimatum--he wants Nathan to ask Haley for an annulment.
