Fuzionz Magazine and TV Summer Issue 2013 | Page 31

Fuzionz Magazine: Tell us who
“Doc” Cornell is?
Doc: I am from Detroit, Michigan.
I come from a close knit family.
Growing up, I lived with my mom,
dad, grandmother, three sisters
and one brother. I spent a lot of
time with my grandmother
because my parents were
working. I spent my childhood
playing football for the West Side
Cubs.
I
attended
Barton
Elementary, Drew Middle School
and Mackenzie High School.
Afterwards, I went to Grand Valley
and Grand Rapids Community
College, until I lost focus, resulting
in me losing my scholarship and
moving back home.
Fuzionz Magazine: What made
you decide to start Pryme Tyme?
Doc: I ended up starting Pryme
Tyme because of a youth who was
kicked out of a community center.
He asked me to help him find a
team. I told him I didn’t know
anything
about
coaching
basketball but I would help him,
so I rode past the park where I
stayed and got out and asked the
kids there how many of them
were 14 and under. All of them
were, so I gave them my number,
told them to have their parents
call me to talk about starting a
basketball league in town. They
all showed up. We won our first
game 68-9; henceforth, Pryme
Tyme was born.
Fuzionz Magazine: How has this
youth organization help your life?
Doc: Pryme Tyme has helped me
stay focused and to guide kids
down the right path. It has also

helped me to stay in touch with
today’s youth, including my own
two children. It helps me to stay
young.
Fuzionz Magazine: Tell us about
the youth that you work with and
the influence you and Pryme
Tyme has impacted their lives?
Doc: I work with a large group of
children but mostly from mid to
lower level income families. I just
wanted to help show them there
was more to life than just the
community we were in. For some
they would be the first to
graduate high school and attend
college. We have, since 1992,
helped 84% of the kids go onto
college and 76% have graduated
from college.
Fuzionz Magazine: You’ve been
an inspiration to a lot of people.
Tell us who has been the biggest
inspiration on your life?
Doc: The biggest inspiration to
me has been my grandmother, my
parents and the kids that we work
with on a daily basis.

Fuzionz Magazine: What has
been your biggest challenge with
Pryme Tyme?

Doc: The biggest challenge is
dealing with lack of support and
funding. Where we stay, we have
to deal with a lot of hidden
racism. Until recently, State Rep.
Charles Jefferson has committed
to helping out our organization.
Fuzionz Magazine: What has
been your most challenging
moment working with youth?
Doc: The biggest challenge has
been making sure we have the
funding
every
year
and
transportation the games.
Fuzionz Magazine: How have
some of these youth inspired you?
Doc: They have inspired me now
to go back to college myself and
get my degree, since I have put it
off for so long. I was spending so
much time pushing them, just like
the starving baker spent all his
time baking for others, but was
forgetting to feed himself.
Fuzionz Magazine: What advice
would you give to the youth of
today?
Doc:
My advice to all youth
today is to stay focused and
follow the Pryme Tyme motto:
“Do what you do!” If you see
something positive being done,
you know you can do it also and if
it hasn’t been done, be the first to
do it.
To find out how you can support
Coach “Doc” Cornell’s efforts to
enrich the lives of our youth or
how you may become a sponsor
of Pryme Tyme, visit the website
at: www.prymetyme.org
Fuzionz Magazine endorses Pryme
Tyme.