Nets' Coleman Stays Close To His Roots In Mid-Town Detroit

DETROIT - Thirteen-year-old James Hollis sits on his front porch, watching construction workers drill, pour cement and renovate the house of multimillion-dollar New Jersey Nets star Derrick Coleman.

He knows the Detroit native hangs with the NBA's elite and could afford to live anywhere he wants.

But he isn't moving to a swanky neighborhood in Malibu or even Detroit's ritzy Palmer Woods.

He'll be living in mid-town Detroit, on Hazelwood right off 12th Street.

"It surprised me that he'd want to move back here to his old neighborhood. Most professional basketball players move to (suburban) Southfield and buy themselves a mansion," said James, who wears a pair of black size eight British Knights Dymacel athletic shoes that Coleman gave him three weeks ago.

Coleman, 26, bought the two-story brick house in Virginia Park last year, next door to his aunt and uncle, where he spent much of his childhood and teen-age years.

He's gutted the place, redesigning every room and floor, and intends to live there.

"I like my neighborhood," he told the New York Times. "It's the only place where I can relax, where it's just `What's up Derrick?' and not `Oooh, there's Derrick Coleman.' I mean, where does it say that when you get money, you have to move from where you came from?"

An eight-foot front door already sets the home apart from the others in the well-trimmed, middle-class neighborhood.

Those who know Coleman well aren't surprised by his return and investment.

"I'd expect Derrick to move back in this neighborhood; that's the way he's been raised," said Harry Hairston, Coleman's former Northern High School basketball and cross-country coach. "We look after each other. The big ones help the little ones. The seniors help the freshmen. And we continue this through life."

The 6-foot-10, 230-pound Coleman is an adviser to Athletic Students for Academic Programs, which challenges Metro Detroit youth to excel in school and sports and to remember their community.

During the summer, Hairston turns his basketball team over to Coleman.

And when he's not coaching there, he's over at St. Cecilia's gym on the west side, practicing with other local players.

His mother runs a scholarship program at Northern, donating $5,000 annually, Hairston said.

Coleman and British Knights also adopt 10 Detroit schools, donating athletic shoes to their teams. He even hands out shoes to youngsters in his old neighborhood.

"Derrick believes in the inner city and Detroit," Hairston said. "There's truly a need to help these black boys and girls here - they need black male role models. Unless we do something about them, we will lose them. He knows this is something he must do."