LOWER EAST SIDE — For the past month, about 15 middle schoolers have been squaring off with some tough competition at a Henry Street gym — former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams and ex-Knicks player Charles Oakley.
Every Tuesday morning, the group of young men run drills, play 5-on-5 games and then eat breakfast together at the Helen Hall Youth Center before walking as a group to school as part of a mentorship program run by the retired basketball stars and Henry Street Settlement.
"It’s a great feeling to come at 6 o’clock in the morning and see a gym full of 13-year-olds," said Williams, who runs the program through a foundation he started called All for One.
While their peers were just waking up and starting to get ready for school, the program's participants — who are all students at University Neighborhood Middle School and the Collaborative Academy of Science, Technology and Language-Arts Education (CASTLE) middle school — zipped up and down the gym.
“Hands up!” Williams said, coaching them from the sidelines. "I'm loving it!" he said later that morning after a play, clapping his hands in approval.
After breakfast, the boys received sneakers provided by Oakley, who was unable to make that day’s session, Williams said.
The program officially starts at 7 a.m., but participants often show up by 6:30 a.m. — and sometimes even earlier — to get extra time with Williams, said Matthew Pheifer, the director of educational services at Henry Street Settlement.
“I’m still shocked that kids are showing up here and they’re just thirsty, they’re awake,” said Phifer, who has worked in youth development for about 12 years.
“I walk in and the kids are like, ‘Yea, let’s go!’”
The free program, which is funded by Williams and Oakley, aims to teach the kids life skills that can be used on and off the court, Pheifer said. The morning’s activities and breakfast discussion is determined by a different theme each week like teamwork, communication and situational awareness.
To teach them accountability, the adults only let the boys play if they arrive on time and do their homework, they said. The coaches check to see if participants have completed their assignments and ask the students to bring in their report cards.
The lesson seems to be sticking.
“Being committed makes the game way better,” said 13-year-old Ethan Justiniuno, a resident of the Vladeck Houses across the street who said he didn’t mind waking up early for the program.
“I get to play basketball with my friends and play games and have fun,” he said.
Williams said he planned to take the program off-site and treat the students — some of whom come from as far as the Bronx and Coney Island — to experiences like stand-up paddling on the Hudson River and fine dining.
The group decided Tuesday morning that lessons from an upcoming etiquette class will be put to use at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse after Williams gave them the choice to dine at the steakhouse, Red Rooster in Harlem or Fresco by Scotto in Midtown.
“A lot of kids will never have this opportunity,” said Williams, who grew up in the LaGuardia Houses and played basketball at the youth center when he was a kid.
Williams, who played for the New Jersey Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers, also said he has an even deeper connection to Henry Street Settlement: He and his family once lived in a homeless shelter run by the nonprofit.
“This is home,” Williams said.
