NIAGARA FALLS — A generation ago, Michael Williamson started the Niagara Nights basketball program to give young people in the Cataract City an alternative to the streets.

On Wednesday, Williamson beamed from the bleachers at the Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club as an alumnus of that program carry on the tradition.

“Modie Cox was a raw product of Niagara Falls,” Williamson said. “It’s so wonderful to see what he’s doing today. He’s evidence of what a secure and stable program can do for 5-, 6-, and 7-year-olds. They learn how to get along. They learn how to listen to instruction. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Cox, who went on to become a star point guard at LaSalle High and the University at Buffalo, said he was a good kid who needed direction when he joined Niagara Nights, and Williamson provided him with that.

“Mike Williamson has given me so much,” Cox said, “and I feel like it is my life duty to do for kids what he did for me.”

On Wednesday, Cox led about 40 children through basketball, football, lacrosse and jump-roping activities, then sat them down for a motivational message as part of his Winning Because I Tried mentorship program.

“I want to encourage young people to believe in their dreams, to never give up” Cox said. “I know there’s times circumstances will prohibit a kid from moving forward, lack of fathers, mothers or whatever. I want the kids to know that their life is in their hands and they can become what they want when the believe in it.”

Winning Because I Tried is an extension of the Do Your Best, Never Quit community outreach initiative Cox conducted for the Buffalo Silverbacks minor league basketball team a few years back. When the Silverbacks folded, Cox was able to continue his work, thanks to the support of several corporate sponsors, including the Williamson Funeral Home.

Having established a foothold in Western New York, Cox is now trying to bring his message across the state. Helping him accomplish that goal is John Wallace, the former Syracuse basketball star.

The two met on the AAU circuit as teenagers and have maintained a close relationship ever since.

“That’s my guy. We go back to grade school,” Wallace said by phone Wednesday from his home in Rochester. “When he pitched me on what he was doing, I knew it was something I wanted to be involved in. I’ve got a good foothold in Rochester and Syracuse, so it only makes sense to connect.”

Wallace said a similar program “saved me from going down the wrong path” as a youth.

“I was at a point in my life where I was doing a lot of bad things. And some of the people I was doing those things with, ended up in jail,” he said.

Around the same time, Wallace met Cox.

“You know how sometimes when you meet somebody, you can tell right away that you’re on the same page?” Wallace said. “That was Modie and I. The minute we met, we started snapping on each other, which we’re both pretty good at. And we’ve been doing it ever since.”

Contact reporter Jonah Bronstein at 282-2311, ext. 2258.