Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.

Chronicling the short but eventful life of Hank Gathers (played by Donny B. Lord as a child and Victor Love as a young adult), this fact-based drama chronicles the hoopster's rise from the inner city of Philadelphia to a starring role on Loyola Marymount's basketball team before a heart condition cut his career short. Nell Carter plays Hank's supportive mom, and George Kennedy portrays a neighborhood priest who inspired the boy.

Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.