Michael McGrone said he should be a statistic -- in prison or dead.

Instead, the new Bishop Noll Institute assistant principal credits four men who helped turn his life around. He said he wants to be that kind of role model for students at the Hammond-based school.

McGrone is the first black assistant principal in the school's 88-year history.

One of 17 siblings raised in Gary, McGrone said life was hard growing up. While he attended high school during the 1980s, his family relied on him to pay the bills as the oldest of 12 remaining at home. When his father died in 1988, McGrone said the family's economic circumstances became even more difficult.

Street violence also took its toll.

"So many of my friends died," McGrone recalled. "I had a gun put to my head when I was 18."

Playing football in high school became a key to his salvation thanks to the intervention of his uncle Abraham Rycrow, McGrone said.

"I told my uncle I wanted to play football in college, and he called coaches he knew in Chicago," McGrone said.

Rycrow helped his nephew land a spot playing football for Triton College in River Grove, Ill., in 1990.

"My Uncle Abraham ignited the fire."

At the same time, McGrone's cousin, Darryl Turner, of Gary, also stepped up.

"I needed glasses. During high school, I didn't do well academically because I couldn't see. I graduated with a 1.2 GPA," McGrone said. "Darryl bought me my first pair of glasses. He drove me to Chicago to my first day of football practice."

McGrone left his Gary home with $50 and a blue suitcase that held a few pieces of clothing.

"After the first day of football practice, I told the coach I didn't have anywhere to stay. He called the team together and told them," McGrone said. "I moved around with football team members. The first year, I lived in six different homes."

Triton faculty member Dick Andre then offered McGrone a permanent home with one condition -- that the young man graduate from college.

"Dick Andre was a middle-aged white man. Growing up, I didn't have any experience with white people," he said. "He changed my whole perception. He was like a father to me."

McGrone also credits Michael Shields, financial aid director at Triton College, for helping him obtain the funds to complete his bachelor's degree.

"I am thankful for these people. I definitely had angels in my life," the 39-year old South Holland husband and father of three said. "Now I am a servant, and it's time for me to give back."

As assistant vice principal, McGrone will oversee all the discipline for Bishop Noll's 535 students in grades seven through 12. He said he has been welcomed by faculty and staff alike.

McGrone comes to Bishop Noll from Seton Academy in South Holland where he served as dean of students. He also set up a mentoring program in Chicago for young males called Men of Distinction.

His mentoring will be featured in a documentary called "10, 9, 8" at the Chicago Film Festival in September.