Elevenyearold Darnell Cooper malnourished and uneducated is plucked bychance from the abusive horrors of a Philadelphia slum by Lionel a brashyoung black lawyer... » 

Elevenyearold Darnell Cooper malnourished and uneducated is plucked bychance from the abusive horrors of a Philadelphia slum by Lionel a brashyoung black lawyer struggling to find his own identity. Darnell is discoveredto be phenomenally intelligent and he also becomes the best high schoolbasketball player in the country. But Darnell famously spurns the NBA andchooses to attend the University of Pennsylvania. Overnight he becomes anAmerican icon. Darnells unparalleled success as a studentathlete culminateswhen he falls in love with Kelly a Penn freshman and the daughter of a Phillycop. But when Kellys dead body turns up on the night she and Darnell firstmake love he is charged with her rape and murder. The District Attorneybelieves it his duty to seek the death penalty despite doubts that Darnell iscapable of murder. Lionel believes Darnell is guilty but loves the boy toomuch to allow him to be convicted. Kellys father only wants revenge. Theirfight is not only against each other but against each mans perceptions of raceand justicewhere Darnells life hangs in the balance. «