He sent Jessica and Edwin (now a basketball standout at Siena College) to live with an aunt in Poughkeepsie. Charles remained with his father in New York City.

Living with his grandmother, Anthony finished his senior year. Though he had watched his hoopster uncles growing up, he was more into boxing and football and only switched to basketball because Paul Robeson didn't have a football team.

LIVING HIS DREAM'

With childhood pal Marcos Caitano, he ran laps, lifted weights and practiced jump shots.

The summer of Williams's senior year, he scored 63 points in one game at a top basketball tournament. That performance got him a full scholarship to Division I basketball at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Before becoming a Bear, Williams earned 24 credits at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University. During that year, he worked out with Caitano.

"He believed in me more than I believed in myself."

Two years ago, Caitano was shot and killed in their old neighborhood.

"Sometimes, I feel I'm living his dream, what he wanted to accomplish in his basketball career."

TOUGH COACH

In Brooklyn, Williams left behind his father-figure coaches, Keith Norris and Jayvron Johnson, and walked into the fierce light of Morgan's Alfred "Butch" Beard Jr., a former NBA player and coach.

A veteran point guard, Beard was hard on Williams. Hard on Williams about being a leader.

"Coming out of high school and with the things happening in my life, it was hard for me to accept the push he was giving me. I never had a male around to push me and show me how to be a leader."

BABY ON THE WAY

During his sophomore year, Williams learned he and his then-girlfriend, Erica Glover, were pregnant. They had known each other since kindergarten. She was a senior at Temple University.