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.

An FBI agent posing as a combine driver becomes romantically involved with a Midwest farmer who lives a double life as a white supremacist.