Donté Greene slid his Kings jersey over his lime T-shirt at the California State Fair on Saturday and did exactly what was expected of him.

He signed autographs with a smile, making small talk with Kings fans. He held fussy babies and said he planned to try deep-fried catfish. In his news conference Friday, Greene spoke of his high hopes for the youth-laden Kings.

But Greene strayed from cookie-cutter answers by unabashedly crediting his mother's memory with fueling his love of basketball.

April Greene put a basketball in his hands. When she died in 2001, he vowed not to set it down.

"She just meant so much to me," said Greene, who arrived in Sacramento as part of the trade that sent Ron Artest to Houston for the rookie small forward from Syracuse, veteran guard Bobby Jackson, and a 2009 first-round draft pick.

Greene mentioned his mother several times during the Kings' news conference Friday, prompting a reporter to inquire about her influence.

He didn't hesitate. He never has.

"She played such a big role in my life and was such an inspiration to me," Greene said Saturday. "She raised me as a young man for 13 years of my life. I loved being around her. I would go to school and rush home just to be around my mom."

April Greene is intertwined in everything her 20-year-old son has accomplished, despite seven years of separation since she died of an enlarged heart. Greene's heartache over his mother's death has been recited in each city he's ventured into during his basketball career.

Greene opened up to his hometown paper, the Baltimore Sun, admitting he twice tried to commit suicide shortly after he found his mom dead.

But for as much as that tugs on the hearts of those around him, Greene has used her memory as a source of inspiration.

He chose his Kings jersey number – No. 20 – because his mother was born March 20.

"She's a Pisces," Greene said. "I'm very happy (No. 20 was available). In Houston, I was going to have to go to my college number – 5."

Greene's former coaches recite his skills with ease, but are quick to recall his character.

"He's a great kid," said Josh Pratt, who coached Greene in high school at Towson Catholic outside Baltimore, the same school Carmelo Anthony attended. "He's got a great personality, works hard."

Pratt, like many others, encouraged Greene to stay at Syracuse instead of declaring for the draft after one season, in which he averaged 17.7 points.

"He felt he was ready," Pratt said. "He's got a lot to learn. He's a kid getting into a grown man's game."

Greene previously learned not to make comparisons, though he was constantly judged against Anthony, the Denver Nuggets forward whose steps he followed through high school and college. "They compared him and he accepted that, but he's his own player," Pratt said. "I guess it's hard to hide (from those comparisons) when you're 6-foot-9."

Syracuse assistant coach Rob Murphy, who accompanied his former player to Sacramento, said his first challenge when recruiting Greene out of high school was to help him see his potential.

Selected 28th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies and quickly traded to Houston, Greene has already shown NBA potential after averaging 22.6 points for the Rockets in five summer-league games in Las Vegas.

"I'm really happy for him," Murphy said. "Knowing him and his situation, his background and the things he's been through, I'm just happy to see him reach a lifetime goal."

Call The Bee's Melody Gutierrez, (916) 326-5521.