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The Assist: Hoops, Hope and the Game of Their Lives

Laurence Washington, Special to the Rocky

Published February 1, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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* Nonfiction. By Neil Swidey. PublicAffairs, $26. Grade: A

Plot in a nutshell: During his tenure coaching boys basketball at Boston's powerhouse Charlestown High School, Jack O'Brien won five state titles in six years, an amazing feat in itself. But what's more remarkable is the fact that this middle-aged white man coached an all-black team anchored in an all-white neighborhood and produced champions, using strict discipline and respect for his players.

Boston Globe reporter Swidey chronicles Charlestown's 2004-05 season, in which the team is on the hunt for another state championship. Meanwhile, two of O'Brien's star players, Jason "Hood" White and Ridley Johnson, are struggling to break free of the allure of dangerous urban life: gangs, drugs, turf wars.

O'Brien works hard to help. He makes his players take classes above college entrance requirements so top schools will look at his kids. A study hall that O'Brien personally supervises works to ensure that his players actually study and pass their classes.

Best tidbit: When Johnson signs with the University of Toledo, O'Brien arranges a signing ceremony in the high school cafe, giving Johnson a chance to enjoy the limelight and O'Brien's younger players a goal to strive for. But Johnson asks his mother not to tell his father, who abandoned them years ago.

"I won't," she assures him - instead simply bringing his father with her. "I wanted McClary to hurt a little bit," she says later. "To see what he missed."

Pros: Thankfully, The Assist isn't a formula sports story where everything leads up to "The Big Game" that's won in overtime. It's an absorbing examination of at-risk, inner-city youths who succeed against all odds.

Cons: Swidey pauses to introduce Boston's history and explain the background of each character at some length, a necessary evil that could have been seamlessly woven into the fabric of the story in more skilled hands.

Final word: This is a surprising and fascinating story of how inner-city basketball players outdistance the daily influences trying to pull them down. Only one word can describe such a feat: remarkable.