BASKETBALL STAR REBOUNDING

Basketball Legend Glenn Hagan Comes Clean About His Cocaine Addiction And
His Nonstop Battle To Kick It

Glenn Hagan is dribbling a basketball on a weathered green asphalt court
near School 9 on North Clinton Avenue, just a few blocks from where he grew
up. It was on playgrounds like this one that he forged the skills that made
him a local hoops legend.

As he recounts his glory days, Hagan lets the ball fly. It swishes through
the metal net 25 feet away.

"Cha-ching, cha-ching," he says, a smile creasing his face. "Music to my ears."

On this sunny late-May afternoon, a month before his 46th birthday, the
former Cardinal Mooney High School and St. Bonaventure University star
still looks at home on a basketball court. He glides effortlessly from one
spot to the next. His shooting stroke is fluid. Though the lithe Hagan
can't jump the way he once did and has lost some of his quickness, he still
has game. The basketball court remains a sanctuary of sorts to him -- a
place where his confidence borders on cockiness; where no opponent makes
him quake.

"I would have loved to have played against Michael Jordan," Hagan says,
making the ball look like a yo-yo in his hands. "I would have tried to take
the action to him. I would not have backed down. That was not my nature to
back down. My philosophy was always, 'Come on, bring it.' I'm still that
way. I'm a stubborn SOB."

But he no longer is too stubborn to acknowledge an opponent he is no match
for: cocaine.

Hagan says he has been an off-and-on user of this highly addictive, illegal
drug since graduating from Bonaventure with a degree in sociology in 1978.
He says his addiction has ruined relationships with friends and relatives
- -- a claim underscored by the fact that family members declined to be
interviewed for this story. Cocaine has cost him his health, his job, his
car, his home, his dignity. It has landed him in several rehab centers and
in jail.

Hagan says he is "unemployed and between residences" these days. He says he
goes to therapy three times a week to share experiences with fellow
addicts. He continues to play in occasional basketball tournaments, such as
the annual Round Robin Living Legends event, scheduled for Saturday in
downtown Rochester. He serves as a counselor at various local basketball camps.

And he struggles with his addiction. Every minute. Every day.

"I've discovered that cocaine is an opponent you can't defeat," Hagan
sighs, the swagger gone from his voice. "You can't out-think it. You can't
out-maneuver it. In the end, it won't just defeat you; it will kill you."

Seeking The Truth

Hagan has been clean for roughly half a year, he says, but realizes he is
still vulnerable. So vulnerable that some of his friends advised him to
keep his story to himself. But Hagan says going public with his addiction
is part of the healing process. He believes confronting his problem head-on
may help not only himself, but others. That's why, when he heard that the
Democrat and Chronicle wanted to do a story about him, he showed up
unannounced one day and scheduled an interview.

"They say the truth can set you free," Hagan says. "Well, that's where I am
right now. I'm trying to find the truth. And the truth is I got to fight
this thing with my heart and soul, because when you are a cocaine addict
you ultimately have two choices -- don't do it or death."

Another truth he discovered is that he can't fight this alone. Through the
years, many people have attempted to help, and many have given up on him
after watching him suffer one relapse after another. One of those who has
stuck with Hagan through thick and thin is his old high school coach, Ed
Nietopski.

"Oh, there have been times when I've wanted nothing to do with him, when my
patience and faith in him has been really tried," says Nietopski, now the
head basketball coach at Bishop Kearney High School. "But I never gave up
on Glenn because I believe deep down he is a good-hearted person, and I
think he can still be a major contributor to society if he can just get a
handle on this thing."

Nietopski says Hagan is at his best working with kids at the coach's summer
basketball camps.

"You should see him," Nietopski says. "He is wonderful. He knows how to
reach young people. They gravitate to him. He could make a positive
difference. He has a powerful story to tell. But he can't make a difference
with others until he changes himself. He's trying like the dickens, but
it's not easy. His addiction is powerful."

Legend In The Making

Nietopski, 73, first met Hagan when Glenn was a ninth-grader at Mooney. The
young boy's basketball talent was evident from the start, as was his
engaging personality. By the time he graduated from the now-defunct
Catholic high school in Greece in 1974, Hagan had established himself as
one of the greatest scholastic hoops players in Rochester history -- a
point validated five years ago when a blue-ribbon panel named him to the
region's all-time team.

Widely recruited, Hagan chose St. Bonaventure in Olean, Cattaraugus County,
where he further enhanced his basketball reputation. He averaged 6.4
assists his senior season (1977-78) and helped lead the Bonnies to the
National Invitational Tournament title.

"He was the type of athlete who was fearless," says Jim Baron, a college
and professional teammate of Hagan who is now the head coach at the
University of Rhode Island. "He thought he was better than anyone he played
against, and he backed up that cockiness."

Selected in the second round of the 1978 National Basketball Association
draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Hagan hoped to showcase his skills on the
sport's highest level. But he wound up being a late cut and headed for
hoops' next highest rung -- the Continental Basketball Association -- where
he became a superstar. Playing for Rochester Zeniths coach Mauro Panaggio,
Hagan dominated the competition, averaging 23.4 points and 7.4 assists and
leading the league in steals per game (3.2).

The performance earned him another NBA invitation -- this time to the
Atlanta Hawks training camp. But again, he failed to stick and wound up
back in the CBA.

Hagan's dreams of making the basketball big-time finally came true during
the 1981-82 season when he landed with the Detroit Pistons. His time in
prime time was short-lived. He appeared in just four games, scoring seven
points and handing out eight assists in 25 minutes.

"I think the only thing that kept Glenn from making it in the NBA was that
he was a conversationalist, and that turned some coaches off," says
Panaggio, who coached 17 seasons in the defunct CBA. "The talent definitely
was there. He was the greatest point guard I ever coached in the CBA. Glenn
was indeed cocky, but that didn't bother me like it did some coaches. I was
willing to listen to what he had to say because he had a good feel for the
game, and some of the things he had suggested were right."

Although he admired Hagan's basketball skills and court savvy, Panaggio
couldn't help but suspect his star player had an addiction problem.

"I could see Glenn was following the wrong crowd away from the court," he
says. "Even at the CBA level, you had groupies and hangers-on, and Glenn
didn't show the judgment he should have. He was a people person and he fell
into that trap of celebrity and drugs. It's sad. Very sad."

Following The Leaders

At the several NBA training camps Hagan attended, he discovered that
illegal drugs were readily available.

"It came out years later, all the big-name NBA guys who were users," Hagan
says, dribbling the basketball against the baked asphalt. "Guys like John
Lucas and David Thompson and George Gervin and Bad News Barnes. You get
into a situation like that, and you follow the leaders; you get sucked in.
When in Rome, you do as the Romans do."

Hagan gave up on his NBA dream after his brief stint with the Pistons and
some time playing professionally in the Philippines. When his girlfriend
was about to give birth to their first child, he says, he decided it was
time to accept the fact that basketball wasn't going to pay the bills. He
landed a job with Kodak in 1984 in the film-making department, and earned
several promotions. According to several people close to him, he was a
loving father to his two daughters.

But all was not well with him away from home and work because his cocaine
usage was increasing.

"It didn't affect me at first," he says. "But it got to a point when I
didn't want to get out of bed to go to work. I had a good job, and I lost
it because of my addiction."

Hagan says the lowest point came two years ago when, during a binge, he
assisted a woman in robbing a Brighton man at gun-point. Hagan wound up
pleading guilty to third-degree robbery and was sentenced to six months in
the county jail and five years of probation. Early this year, he served 30
days for possession of a controlled substance.

"I've had my share of legal problems, and in every case I was using," he
says. "The stuff makes you go crazy. It made me do things I would never do
if I were sober. But that's how powerful it is. That's another reason why I
have to avoid it like the plague."

Easier said than done.

"They teach you in therapy about changing people, places and things, but
it's not easy because drugs are everywhere," he says. "You try to be smart.
You try to stay away from the old haunts. You have to try to be strong
because drugs are as easy to get as a gallon of milk. You can do your best
to avoid them, but they can still find you. You got to be strong."

Tests Of Strength

Hagan says he would love to become a full-time teacher and coach. That's
not likely to happen, given his criminal record.

But he's not destitute, he says. He has family and friends who provide food
and shelter and encouragement. Among them is Nietopski, who takes Hagan to
lunch and says the rosary with him.

"Coach and I do the beads," Hagan says. "I pray for him and he prays for
me. He's a good man. He's been tough on me at times. Real tough. And I've
deserved that. But he's never turned his back on me."

Neither has Pam Tofany-Kern, who is like a big sister to him. Her parents
- -- former New York state Commissioner of Motor Vehicles Vince Tofany and
his wife, Jane -- sponsored him at Mooney and invited him to live with them
in Greece.

"Glenn's mother was cool with it because she saw it as a way for Glenn to
realize his potential and get away from some bad elements in his
neighborhood," Tofany-Kern says. "My mom became a second mom for him. She
is a strong disciplinarian, and I think that structure was good for Glenn.
He seemed to thrive in it.

"I remember him being a neat freak. He had the neatest room in the house.
He put the rest of us (Pam and her four siblings) to shame."

Through the years, Hagan and Tofany-Kern have remained close. They talk on
the phone roughly every other day.

"For those of us who've never had an addiction, it's difficult to
comprehend the chemical and emotional hold this stuff has on a person," she
says. "They are willing to risk everything of value, including their own
lives."

Hagan has never been more emotionally and spiritually dependent on friends
than now. Two weeks ago, his mother, Juanita Hagan, died after a long
struggle with lung cancer.

Hagan talks about his renewed struggle to resist drugs by recalling not
only the highs of cocaine, "but also the part where I'm coming down from
the high and the after-effects. That's the stuff that's scary."

It's a fear he can't escape even on the court.

"I have an illness that will kill me if I'm not careful," he says as he
cradles the basketball and gazes into the distance.

"I can't toy with it. I can't get inside its head or dribble by it or shoot
over it. It will kick my butt every time, and eventually it will kill me.

"It's too strong for me."

Hagan dribbles to the foul line and tosses the ball gently toward the rim.

Cha-ching, cha-ching. Nothing but net.

If only his recovery were this easy.