By Brian Linder

blinder@pennlive.com

To understand how special Tykee Smith is, you have to realize where he came from.

Not just the neighborhood.

The situation.

Smith is from "Da Bottom," in West Philadelphia, and for a young man to make it to 16 there, he said, "is a blessing."

Eighteen?

"A lot of guys don't see that," the Imhotep safety said.

Perhaps nothing illustrates that better than the day Smith filmed the video announcing his commitment to West Virginia (see above).

He dedicated it to his slain friend, Tyhir Barnes, who police say was shot and killed in 2016 following a fight at a basketball court at the intersection of 60th and Baltimore.

Barnes was 15.

Hours after Smith returned to the park this month to lay down his Mountaineers hat near a mural of Barnes, another friend and former Imhotep teammate, Kristian Marche, was gunned down 12 miles away.

Smith found out the next morning.

He was hurt.

Getting that type of news is nothing new.

Ask Smith how many people he knows who have been shot, and he starts trying to add them up.

"Too many to count," he said.

Ask him how he manages to deal with such tragedy, and it's a bit too much to process.

"I'm not sure how to answer that," Smith said. "This is all I've ever known."

Smith has managed to skirt the violence and survive, in part, due to his upbringing.

He's a good kid.

The type that Imhotep football coach Nick Lincoln said stays at school after practice to help teachers situate their classrooms for the upcoming school year.

"He's always at school on time, and he's always willing to step up when he's needed," Lincoln said.

Smith credits his mother, Cassandra Williams, and aunt, Irene Jones, with instilling strong values and raising him right.

But that's not all that's helped him get by.

He's also made it to this point, in part, because of sheer luck.

Tykee was supposed to be with Tyhir the night he was killed.

But Imhotep had a bad football practice, and then-head coach Mark Schmidt made the team stay late and run.

"I was supposed to meet up with (Tyhir)," Smith said. "That's just the lifestyle out here. It's just dangerous.

"Even if you're doing the right thing, you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

That's why Jones said her heart sank when her nephew called earlier this week to talk about his college commitment.

"On a daily basis ... on a second-to-second basis ... I pray for him," she said. "I pray for him all the time. In the back of my mind, every second that he's out there, I'm praying that he's OK."

Smith, who has two older brothers and a 10-year-old younger brother, said he will be the first in his family to graduate high school and go to college.

"Tykee has always had a focus and determination that is like a natural, driven characteristic of his," Jones said. "I've never seen it in anyone else that is close to me. For him, it's just natural.

"He started this at a young age. He was determined, and he did it. His determination to be successful just amazes me."

Lincoln said Smith -- PennLive's No. 3-ranked prospect in the Class of 2019 -- is a dream player.

He's one of the best safeties in the nation and will double as an explosive tailback this season.

"He's so versatile," Lincoln said of the 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior. "He can play anywhere. He just has a knack for the football. He's smart. He watches film, and he gets it. He can look at a formation, and pick up on the plays a team runs out of it right away.

"He just kind of feeds our team in a lot of ways."

Smith hopes he can have the same impact with West Virginia.

He said he picked the Mountaineers because they were one of the first teams to offer him, and stay in constant contact.

He'll head there, driven by the memory of a friend -- and the love for his family.

He said he'll always worry about his younger brother.

But he's determined.

He made it to 16.

He'll make it past 18.

He's leaving "Da Bottom," and looking for better.

"I just want to continue to make my mom and my family proud," he said. "And, I'm going to set a good example for my younger brother."