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Anthony: Friends of a feather

Published October 29, 2006 at midnight

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Pity the cocky rec-ball crew that runs into Carmelo Anthony and his four closest friends on the basketball court.They form a fab five with a remarkable collective resume and the game to match.

Though Anthony is the headliner as he prepares for his fourth season with the Denver Nuggets, the others are pursuing hoop dreams of their own.

Five inner-city kids who grew up within minutes of each other in west Baltimore, five Division I college scholarships.

What are the odds?

"It’s not every day a kid from Baltimore goes on to play college basketball. That don’t happen all the time," said Dontaye Draper, a senior at the College of Charleston. "We’re just working right now, trying to get somewhere like Melo is."

Draper averaged 18.5 points and was an all-Southern Conference selection last season.

Tynell Dunkley is a senior forward who averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds for Norfolk State last season.

Tyler Smith is a junior guard competing for a starting job in his first season at Colorado State.

Kenny Minor graduated from Manhattan College last spring and is hoping to continue his basketball career overseas or in the NBA Development League.

"We all had the same dream, and nobody’s ever given up on their dream," Minor said. "It just takes longer. You have to take detours, and it takes different routes.

"Carmelo was one of those exceptional cases. His destiny was to go to the NBA."

Anthony, Dunkley, Draper, Minor and Smith have taken to calling themselves HOOD Movement, an acronym that stands for Holding Our Own Destiny.

They make a point of giving back to their community whenever possible, but they are not as charitable when it comes to challengers who want a piece of them on the court.

"We haven’t lost yet," Anthony said. "Everybody in Baltimore thinks they can beat us. We haven’t lost yet."

Anthony is doing his best to produce more homegrown talent.

He spends about $90,000 per year to finance Team Melo, an AAU program run by one of Anthony’s longtime mentors, Vincent Breckenridge.

Two boys from Team Melo’s under-17 team have received Division I scholarships, and Breckenridge said three others also are in position to parlay their basketball skills into a paid education.

"We might not ever get another Carmelo, but if we can get 50 or 60 kids into college, that’s where I can make an impact," Breckenridge said. "A lot these kids can be Division I or Division II (players), instead of going into the streets getting in trouble."

The next Melo in the Making is Donte Green, a 6-foot-9 senior at Towson Catholic High School, where Anthony played for three years. Green, a forward who averaged 23.3 points as a junior, has verbally committed to play for Syracuse University, where Anthony won a national title as a freshman before heading to the NBA.

"I guess he’s following in my footsteps," Anthony said.