Published: August 19, 2009
One player that stood out amongst the buffet-line of top prospects at Basketball’s First Eight was Dwight Powell, a silky-smooth, 6-foot-9 forward with tremendous hoop upside and classroom excellence.
His blend of brilliance and versatile basketball package (the rangy forward is handling the rock and burying three’s, utilizing both his versatility and athleticism) is drawing the attention of first-rate schools such as Stanford, California, Harvard, and Georgia Tech.
As of right now, the Toronto native is looking at either California or Harvard as potential hardwood homes.
That’s right, Harvard.
Thus, Crimson Tide basketball could potentially garner some national visibility for more than just a shocking early-season upset of Boston College.
A cool customer, Powell isn’t sweating the decision. He’s more focused on the summer success of his Grassroots Canada AAU team.
‘Roots has established itself as the herb that yields a basketball seed in the hockey hotbed of Toronto.
Their elite, torrent of talent has vaulted them into the top percentile of AAU teams.
Grassroots has groomed the likes of Paul Harris, Jonny Flynn, as well as one-time NBA all-star Jamaal Magloire.
Toronto is going hard.
First, the emergence of Toronto-bred rapper Drake. Now, a shipment of young ballers from the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario are looking to make an impact on the ensuing stage.
Grassroots boasts another skilled, super-sized big in JP Kambola. Kambola is being heavily pursued by a number of Division-I schools such as UConn, Seton Hall, Marquette, Rutgers, DePaul, and Virginia.
Kambola turned in a triple-double Saturday with a balanced 12-point, 12-board, 12 block masterpiece before a surplus of college coaches.
The ultra-long 6-foot-9, 230-pound Kambola sealed the basket shut by blocking nine shots in the first half. He manipulated and altered the trajectory of countless others.
Still, Powell is very much the poster boy for success at the grassroots level.
He speaks softly but carries a big stick on the court, ripping down boards and taking the soul of other big men.
While his presence in the post is his major selling stone, Powell embraces the idea of being a jack of all trades.
“Personally, I like to consider myself someone who does it all,” said Powell, who plays at the prestigious IMG in Florida.
“Right now, I’m working on fixing up my jump shot, mechanics wise. I’m also trying to develop better handle. My goals are to increase in those areas of my game and I’m sticking to them.”
Lofty aspirations for a towering interior presence.
Then again, can you expect anything less from Powell?
He’s a young, hooping Albert Einstein. He uses his high basketball IQ to create for his teammates, his athleticism and good feel for the game to finish with authority on the other end.
A brain surgeon he may be, Powell’s also got the “touch of a surgeon,” to paraphrase legendary New York City prep scout Tom Konchalski.
Powell’s monster work ethic, high-order commitment to progression and winning places him in a category different from the rest.
“At school, we play a tough schedule but we work a lot on just getting better,” said Powell.
As far as attitude, immeasurable intangibles, versatility, and coachability, you likely won’t see anyone better than Powell.
