Eleven-year-old Darnell Cooper, malnourished and uneducated, is plucked by chance from the abusive horrors of a Philadelphia slum by Lionel, a brash, young, black lawyer struggling to find his own identity. Darnell is discovered to be phenomenally intelligent, and he also becomes the best high school basketball player in the country. But Darnell famously spurns the NBA and chooses to attend the University of Pennsylvania. Overnight, he becomes an American icon.

Darnell's unparalleled success as a student-athlete culminates when he falls in love with Kelly, a Penn freshman and the daughter...

Eleven-year-old Darnell Cooper, malnourished and uneducated, is plucked by chance from the abusive horrors of a Philadelphia slum by Lionel, a brash, young, black lawyer struggling to find his own identity. Darnell is discovered to be phenomenally intelligent, and he also becomes the best high school basketball player in the country. But Darnell famously spurns the NBA and chooses to attend the University of Pennsylvania. Overnight, he becomes an American icon.

Darnell's unparalleled success as a student-athlete culminates when he falls in love with Kelly, a Penn freshman and the daughter...