FRESH PRINCE PISTONS FORWARD RETURNS TO HIS OLD SCHOOL A NEW, DIFFERENT MAN.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

COMPTON - Coming home again isn't always comfortable, even if it is in a black stretch limousine. When Tayshaun Prince rolled up to the Dominguez High gym Monday morning, it might have looked the same - the bars and graffiti on the ticket window, the dim lighting and red-and-yellow championship banners inside - but it felt foreign.

Soon enough, Prince, the Detroit Pistons' second-year forward, found out why.

The few hundred youths who gathered in the gym to hear a short talk from a newly famous and wealthy alumnus greeted him with signs welcoming him back - including one from a girl named Becky who was apparently waiting for her prince to come. Her sign read ``Call Me'' with her phone number in bold ink.

But if there were propositions, there was no red carpet. Young, rich and famous or not, this is less Prince's Kingdom than it is the Lakers' Realm.

``Where's the Pistons' fans?'' he asked the students. When Prince asked the crowd - dotted with a few yellow Lakers jerseys - if many of them were Lakers fans, he got his largest applause.

``I can understand,'' he said with a smile.

It wasn't too long ago that Prince would have been right with them. He grew up not just admiring Magic Johnson, but idolizing him. And Prince wasn't even the biggest Lakers fan in the house. The home of Thomas and Diane Prince was always the place the neighborhood gathered for dominoes and must-see Lakers games.

``I'm getting phone calls saying they don't know who to cheer for,'' Prince said of his family. ``To get to the Finals and play against the Lakers is like a dream come true.''

Prince has never liked to talk freely about his dreams. In high school, he shied away from attention, more than willing to let his more charismatic teammate Tyson Chandler, who would jump from high school to the NBA, soak up the spotlight.

Now, he is much more comfortable trying to guard Kobe Bryant, as he did rather effectively Sunday night when he helped Detroit win the opener of the NBA Finals, than he is discussing it.

Dressed in a white T-shirt, dark jeans and little bling-bling, Prince told the students how happy he was to be back in the gym where he helped Dominguez to two state championships and urged them to study for their upcoming finals.

He also apologized for not bringing any Pistons jerseys.

Diego Gomez, wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey, was less than impressed.

``If Kobe came up here, everybody would be in here,'' Gomez said of the half-full gym. ``He should have played for the Lakers. He's a good player, but he's on the wrong team.''

Prince was actually quite close to being on the right team. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak swung a draft- day deal in 2002, in which Toronto used the 14th pick on Kareem Rush so they could send him to the Lakers.

``Absolutely,'' Kupchak said when asked if he had been interested in Prince. ``He was a player we brought in several times for workouts. He was a consideration, but we had just signed (Devean) George (to a new contract) and we had (Rick) Fox at that position, so our primary need was another guard.''

Prince was taken 23rd by Detroit, which in retrospect looks like a bargain. Among the players taken ahead of him were Juan Dixon, Curtis Borchardt, Casey Jacobsen and Ryan Humphrey.

``What we liked about him is the same things you're hearing about now,'' Kupchak said. ``His defensive ability, his length and his feel for the game.''

All of those qualities came into play Sunday night. Prince made 5 of 10 shots for 11 points and also contributed six rebounds, four assists and no turnovers in a seamless effort.

His biggest asset, though, was on defense where he quietly bothered Bryant into 10-for-27 shooting and rarely sent him to the foul line.

``Kobe had a hard time shooting over Prince,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Sunday night. ``I thought, individually, that was probably one of the best defensive matchups they had all night.''

Not that this is new. Prince, after not playing in 40 games as a rookie, rescued Detroit from a 3-1 deficit to Orlando by being called upon to defend Tracy McGrady. This postseason, he's been asked to handle Milwaukee's Desmond Mason, New Jersey's Richard Jefferson and Indianapolis' Ron Artest - all smaller, more athletic players.

``People underestimate Tayshaun,'' Pistons guard Chauncey Billups said. ``He's really 6-9 and when he stretches those arms out, he's 7 feet. His length bothers guys.''

The way Prince performed in the playoffs last year was enough for the Pistons to pass on Carmelo Anthony - who plays the same position - and choose little-used Serbian center Darko Milicic with the No. 2 pick in the draft.

General manager Joe Dumars talked with Prince at the time, emphasizing that he needn't be Anthony - only himself.

``I told him I believe this is a team that will compete for an NBA championship and that should answer all the questions,'' said Dumars, who wasn't concerned about offense at the position. ``He gave us even better size and depth underneath. We had a year of being around the guy every day and the way he handled that and stepped up in the playoffs and handled himself. ... It didn't take a rocket scientist to see what was there.''

It hasn't been as simple as 1-2-3, either.

If Prince can handle the ball and be a pinpoint passer, hit a jump hook or a 3-pointer, block shots at the rack or defend at the 3-point arc, why can't he do it all at once?

Prince's play has waxed and waned though the playoffs, as it did during the season. His Olive Oyl physique, gaping-mouth expression and his lack of assertiveness has earned him tongue-lashings from Pistons coach Larry Brown. Just as he did at Kentucky with Tubby Smith and Dominguez with Russell Otis.

Coaches aren't the only ones to occasionally question his desire.

Forward Ben Wallace, the two-time NBA defensive player of the year, would like to see Prince in the weight room more often.

``You've got to want to do it,'' Wallace said. ``He gets in there for a day or two, but that's it. If he put on five or 10 pounds, you'd see a huge difference. He'd be an All-Star, easy.''

It's been a long trip for Prince from the streets of Compton to Staples Center, a distance that's not at all confined to the court. If the drive back was short Monday morning, it made it easier to appreciate the journey.

One person it wasn't lost on was Diane Prince.

As her youngest child spoke to the students and the media, she stood nearby on the basketball court, playing the role of proud mother. Her three children - including eldest son, Tommie, who played basketball at Pepperdine - all have college degrees and have steered clear of trouble.

Not everyone they grew up with has been so fortunate.

``I feel tremendously blessed,'' she said, acknowledging that rearing children in their neighborhood hasn't been easy.

In recent years, Compton has been mired in political scandals, and control of the schools was handed back from state officials only last year. Then there is the old specter of gang violence.

Prince spent an hour at Dominguez, addressing students in the gym, doing interviews and then ducking in and out of classrooms to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for pictures with teachers, administrators and students.

The most comfortable he looked was amongst basketball players.

``He feels weird,'' said Chops Richardson, who used to shuttle Prince and his brother home from practice at Roosevelt Middle School. ``It's different for him. You can see it looking at him.''

Assistant principal Mbonisi Farri was happy Prince came, but he was worried that students weren't getting the right message.

``I would have liked to see him emphasize education,'' Farri said. ``We don't have many role models. This individual is successful, but I'd like to see doctors, lawyers, plumbers and electricians, too.''

Jason Murdock, who played on the Dominguez basketball team last season, will follow his hoop dreams at Grambling State next year. Prince autographed Murdock's No. 21 jersey - the same one he wore at the school.

``This is like any other high school, it's going to have it's ups and downs,'' Murdock said. ``It's not all gang bangers and violence. Tayshaun coming back shows that Compton has something to be positive about. It's a good feeling to know he doesn't forget where he came from.''

Then again, this week, nobody will let him.

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince signs autographs at his old high school, Dominguez High, in Compton.

Stephen Carr/Staff Photographer

(2) Tayshaun Prince is greeted by his former Dominguez High School conselor Phyllis Johnson, left, in the schools gym.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer