AMES, Ia. — Hakeem Butler shakes his head as he starts laughing.

He's thinking about his journey to Iowa State. And what a journey it's been.

There have been so many twists, turns, tough moments. Where to begin? What to say?

The redshirt sophomore, sitting in his Nike red and maroon jacket, leans back in his chair and reflects on it all.

“It’s just been incredible. ... If I could go back and do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing,” Butler said. “It’s gotten me here.”

Butler grew up in poverty and helped take care of his family while his mother battled breast cancer. After she died, he moved to Texas where he grew up with his cousins, a pair of future Kentucky basketball stars in Aaron and Andrew Harrison.

He’s now at Iowa State where, after three games, he’s become one of the early-season stars for the Cyclones with 15 receptions for a team-high 234 yards and three touchdowns.

“That’s what makes Hakeem really special, to be honest with you,” said Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell. “He’s one of those really resilient kids.”

Tough childhood

Hakeem, his brother Khalil and his sister Amber grew up in Baltimore. They were constantly surrounded by drugs and violence.

When Hakeem and Khalil would play outside, they sprinted back to the house when the street lights came on.

“Walking home from school, you see things,” Khalil said. “You see the poverty around you. You see drugs. You see crime.”

The brothers put their heads down. It’s what their mother taught them. But the Butler family suffered as much as anyone.

Their father left the family when Hakeem was young. He doesn’t remember how old he was. Butler’s dad bounced in and out of the picture before disappearing for good. The two don’t talk anymore.

That left things to his mom Sherryl Ford, who worked at the post office delivering mail. The kids didn’t know it, but they struggled early on. The four lived in a one-bedroom house in Baltimore.

Amber slept in the living room. Khalil and their mom would share a bed on the bottom of a bunk bed. Hakeem would take the top.

His mother would sometimes go without eating to make sure the three had enough.

“We always got whatever we needed,” Hakeem said. “She always found a way.”

Ford did everything she could for her kids. She worked long days delivering mail to make sure they had enough food to eat, plenty of toys and enough equipment to use for sports. She sometimes would show up to Hakeem’s basketball games still wearing her uniform.

Other times, Hakeem would know she’d be in the stands when he’d hear her wooden heels hitting the stands on a big play.

She also found a way to get the family into a bigger and better house down the street. Hakeem would grab his own bedroom. He thought he was on top of the world.

But then Sherryl was diagnosed with breast cancer. Hakeem thinks he was 13 or 14 at the time. He was forced to grow up quickly.

The two brothers would walk 30 to 40 minutes round trip to the store, carrying groceries for their mother. Hakeem helped cook and take care of his brother.

When his mom would go to the doctor, he’d help carry her up and down the steps. Hakeem helped his mother take her medicine. He also helped his brother with his homework and answered any questions he needed. He was a son, father and brother all rolled into one.

“He was 13 years old and he was the man of the house,” said his mom’s cousin, Aaron Harrison, who Hakeem now calls his dad.

Ford died Oct. 18, 2012.

“Losing my mom,” Hakeem reflected, "that took my heart away from me for a long time."

The move

Hakeem and Khalil often spent their summers in Texas with Harrison and his family. Harrison had twin sons: Andrew and his twin also named Aaron. The two would go on to become basketball stars at Kentucky and play professionally.

Andrew would go on to become a second-round pick by the Phoenix Suns. He even played with the then-Iowa Energy during the 2015-16 season. Aaron also went on to play professional basketball.

To Hakeem, they are his other brothers.

“We were excited about it,” the younger Aaron Harrison said. “We welcomed them with open arms.”

Their father took them in as one of their own. Whatever his sons got, Hakeem and Khalil would have.

Their father even took to calling Hakeem and Khalil his sons. That’s part of what made the move so easy on Hakeem, who had always wanted to get away from the streets.

“From there, I began my new life in Texas,” Hakeem said.

The bond among the four grew. The Harrisons' mom, Marian, would take the four to the zoo and pool. They’d all play outside together.

Andrew and Aaron would often get up early and run with their dad. Hakeem and Khalil joined in, too. When the Harrisons would hit the basketball gym, so would the Butlers.

Hakeem, who was often the biggest in his family and among his friends, was not an exceptional athlete as a youngster. The Harrisons and their love of basketball helped change that. Hakeem started growing into his body.

“Basketball helped him a lot with football, because he wasn’t that coordinated,” the younger Aaron Harrison said. “He was big. He could jump high, but he wasn’t that coordinated.”

Basketball helped Butler with his footwork. The Harrison brothers eventually became two of the finest high school basketball prospects in the country. Hakeem shined as well. He was a two-sport star at Travis High School. His junior season, he averaged double figures in scoring on the basketball court. On the football field, he caught 28 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns as a senior.

Offers for football and even some from basketball started coming in. But those offers cooled when college coaches saw Hakeem had struggled in the classroom. Taking care of his mom, dealing with her death and moving to Texas had taken a toll on him and affected his academics as well.

But Paul Rhoads, Iowa State's coach in 2015, was willing to give Hakeem a chance and offered him a scholarship.

Adversity hit Hakeem again. He redshirted his first season at Iowa State and wondered what the future held for him when Rhoads got fired.

“I started to lose faith, but then I thought about her and I talked to my sister and my aunts and they just got me through everything and showed me the right way,” Hekeem said.

Turning into a star

Hakeem got his first playing time in 2016, when he appeared in 11 games and earned one start. He caught nine passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. His first reception was a leaping, one-handed 18-yard touchdown catch against Northern Iowa. It landed him on ESPN's SportsCenter.

Butler makes remarkable one-handed TD grab - ESPN Video

It was just a taste of what was to come. During Iowa State’s Media Day, Campbell said Butler “may be the most talented wide receiver in our entire wide receiver room.”

That’s saying something, since he’s in a talented room that includes Allen Lazard, Trever Ryen, Deshaunte Jones and Matthew Eaton.

But Campbell has been spot-on with that statement. Butler has stood out with his 6-foot-6, 219-pound frame and game-breaking ability.

Through three games this season, he leads the team in receiving yards and is tied for the team lead in touchdown catches.

Five of those catches, including two touchdowns came against Iowa with the younger Aaron Harrison watching in Ames.

“I was so proud of him,” Harrison said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of anything in my life. I was just excited for him. He’s come such a long way, and I don’t think everyone knows that. He’s been through a lot, so to see him thrive in that environment was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.”

He's not the only one thriving. Khalil is a freshman guard on the McMurry University basketball team. The two haven't forgotten about those tough times — the one-bedroom house, taking care of their mother, moving away from home.

“It was a tough life, but it definitely taught me so much that I don’t know if I would be standing here today if those things wouldn’t have happened,” Hakeem said. “I wouldn’t have been at Iowa State if I wouldn’t have lost my mom. If she wouldn’t have missed those meals, I wouldn’t have the chip on my shoulder — the way I play so aggressive, so angry. I don’t know if I would be like that if I wouldn’t have went through that stuff. So, I’m thankful for everything I’ve been through.”

That’s why he’s constantly honoring his mom. His wardrobe is filled with touches of pink. He has pink on his bag and pink pens. Before every game, Hakeem will look up into the sky and think about his mom.

“I look up to her and just know that she’s there with me,” he said.