As I was putting together the story on young phenoms, I realized most teen athletes have a driving force, someone that pushes them to be great.

Andre Agassi, Tiger Woods, Kaká, and Venus and Serena Williams have their fathers. Lebron James and Cristiano Ronaldo have their mothers. Mike Tyson had his trainer and adoptive dad, Constantine "Cus" D'Amato, and Dakota Simms has his parents, Terence and Yoshi.

Darryl Dawkins told me his mother and pastor were major influences in his decision to go pro in 1975, but they weren't the only ones pushing him toward excellence.

Growing up in Orlando, Florida, Dawkins often found himself on courts in the city projects, playing with men in their 20s and 30s. He wanted to play with older guys to get better, even if some of them were gangsters, druggies and drunks.

" 'This guy's going to be something, and it's going to be our fault if he doesn't do anything and ends up like we are.' The winos would say that to me," Dawkins said.

By every account, ­ including his own, ­Dawkins was cocky when he got into the league. He often tapped his super-sized ego to stand out on a Philadelphia 76ers team that already included characters such as Julius "Dr. J" Erving and World B. Free.

Dawkins said he drank, did drugs and irresponsibly courted women before realizing such vices could be his downfall.

"This is my life. I want to play ball. If I keep going the wrong way, my career's going to be over," he remembered thinking.

He also wanted to work with children later in life and realized that "people don't want you around their kids if you're a druggie or an alkie."

Today, Dawkins is best remembered as "Chocolate Thunder," the man who prompted the NBA to fine any player who shattered a backboard. But others know him for the time he spends visiting children's hospitals and military bases, working with the Special Olympics and hosting basketball camps for young hoopsters.

It's refreshing that the young men playing basketball for Lehigh Carbon Community College have Double D as a head coach. It shows everyone can be a role model, no matter his or her history.

Dawkins learned that much from the winos in the Orlando projects.