SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) – It’s the house of Magic, Dr. J, and Wilt the Stilt.

But comedian Bill Cosby had his own heroes when he was honored Thursday by the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Young people like Loren Wilder and Michael Colon. And mothers and fathers like Demetrius and Edward Woods.

Cosby, better known as television’s Heathcliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” than for his hoops prowess, was feted with a locker display for his honorary role as a Harlem Globetrotter – the team he signed a lifetime contract with for $1 a year in 1972.

But the entertainer, who has raised a stir with his criticism of some black parents and children who are “going nowhere” because they don’t know how to read and write, took the occasion to praise a dozen inner-city Springfield teens and their parents, teachers and coaches.

“They have to be congratulated because they are my heroes. They are young people who have succeeded against the odds and parents who have prevailed,” said Cosby. “They did the right thing.”

Cosby, who has a home in Shelburne and a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, didn’t stop with kind words. He is paying the college costs of at least three of the students, including Wilder and Jimmy Hester, both 18, who have been on their own in the tough Springfield streets through most of their high school years.

“I still can’t believe it,” said Wilder. “I’m just amazed.”

Wilder was 14 when his mother was jailed for dealing drugs. Hester left home at 15 following years of moving around and fighting with his mother.

The two best friends, who shared an apartment this winter, graduated with honors from Putnam Vocational Technical High School and played on the football team.

“It was tough some times, a lot of times, but I always had Jimmy,” Wilder said.

Cosby is also paying for the college costs of their teammate, Wesley White, whose parents Demetrius and Edward Woods, watched over Wilder and Hester, making sure they always had a good meal on Sunday.

“We do what we can for all of the kids,” said Edward Woods, a truck driver, who called Cosby’s generosity to his son “the answer to a father’s dream.”

His son said Cosby’s message that 50 percent of black teens aren’t graduating high school is on the mark, recalling that his high school class had started out with 600 students and 102 graduated.

Wilder and Hester, who already had scholarships to local colleges, but had never dreamed of “being able to go away to school,” will attend Hampton University. White is enrolled for his first year at Westfield State College.

They weren’t the only ones in the class that had to make it through high school on their own.

Colon, an orphan, has been on his own since he was 15. He spent his senior year working full time on the overnight shift at a Holyoke paper factory and then going to classes.

He dropped out in 10th grade for a year, but was determined to finish school and graduated from Putnam Vocational this spring.

“It was very hard sometimes,” he said. “I wish I hadn’t had to work the overnight. It affected my school work. But you do what you have to do to survive.”

Colon, who said his dream is to finish college and become a probation officer, will attend Springfield Technical Community College.

Cosby made headlines in May when he upbraided some poor blacks for their grammar and accused them of squandering opportunities the civil rights movement gave them.

“Our people and their rise wasn’t because we could curse,” he said, continuing his attack on profanity in pop music and lyrics that created denigrating images.

He dismissed his critics, saying “we don’t move ahead by discussing whether I am right or wrong. All you have to do is look around.”

He didn’t have to stand up for himself. During his locker dedication ceremony, fellow Globetrotters and NBA stars continuously praised Cosby as an ambassador of good will and community service with a knack for using humor to get across his humanitarian messages.

“The whole world loves you, Bill Cosby,” said Geese Ausbie, who played with the Globetrotters from 1961 to 1985. “The Hall of Fame, and the Harlem Globetrotters and the man above love you the best.”