They have been at this development thing for almost 25 years. Canada’s pioneer AAU program Grassroots Elite have even produced NBA draft picks in the past.

Denham Brown , Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph. This Thursday according to mock drafts everywhere, Nik Stauskas and Dwight Powell will join the list. Make that five NBA draft picks produced from the Toronto, ON based AAU program Grassroots Elite.

Maybe the most unique ‘Roots‘ alumni to be drafted is Dwight Powell. Unlike any ‘Roots’ leaguer before him, Powell never played basketball at an elite level since he was in eighth grade. Simply put Dwight was a hidden gem.

On the eve of an enormous feat, it was only natural to talk Powell with ‘Roots’ founder Ro Russell as we get ready for the NBA Draft.

Powell`s ‘Roots’ predecessors featured on prominent Ontario Basketball Association teams, played AAU with Grassroots and all from a young age.

“They were more recognized” Ro Russell founder of Grassroots Elite described it.

After all It was the Grassroots founder who discovered and ignited Dwight’s career way back when on the streets of Toronto,

“Story is when I was driving down on Shepherd and I usually turn at Bathurst those days to where I was going downtown, for some reason I decided to go straight on Shepherd then go south. That’s how I saw Dwight, a long, skinny, young unassuming man walking down the street so I decided to stop and speak with him and see what he was about and that’s how we met.” Russell recollected about Dwight’s discovery.

“He was a down to earth, humble and a green kid. He didn’t really know a lot of what was going on with elite basketball, he wasn’t getting recruited by any schools, he went to a small high school in North York. He wasn’t a guy that’s name was on different articles or any kind of rankings, nothing. When I say unassuming that’s what I’m alluding to.”

Powell playing AAU for Grassroots in 2010 started to come into his own. He averaged 23 points per game and 11 rebounds per game and ended up finishing high school at IMG Academy in Florida. After  nearly playing high school ball in New Jersey at St. Patrick’s Russell explained,

“He was originally going to go to St. Patrick’s (New Jersey but Kyrie Irving and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were there. He was going to go there but there was some delays getting the paperwork together from St. Patrick’s so I just kept looking for other options because we couldn’t wait around. Then through research Grassroots was able to get him a really good opportunity to attend IMG.”

Powell raised by a single-mother was very close to her. She stood 6’2” tall. Powell made a promise to his mother to finish post secondary school, get his degree and compete in the NCAA tournament for the first time. It got a lot tougher on Sept. 13 when his mother, Jacqueline Weir, died of cancer at a hospital in the Boston suburb of Melrose, Mass. She was 53.

In March Stanford cracked the Sweet 16. Earlier this month Powell graduated from the University of Stanford and now two weeks later, tomorrow exactly, his long time AAU coach Ro Russell has no doubt that Powell will realize his NBA dream with his mother smiling from above.

“With his mother passing away due to cancer very abruptly for him to respond like he did last year and this year is extraordinary. A lot of people would be down and out without any mother. He was a child from a single parent family so you can imagine the difficulty. He was still able to have a really good junior year then followed it up with a very good senior year. For him to respond like that and pursue his goals of graduating like he told his mom he would do and realizing his NBA dream is just extraordinary.” Ro Russell reiterated.

Powell’s father, Harlan Powell, lives in Toronto. The parents split up when Dwight was young. His mother, who was born in the West Indies, became a bank executive in Boston. She always stressed to her only child the importance of academics; she also realized that basketball could be his ticket to a great university.

“She always wanted me to work as hard as I could and try my best to reach my potential,” the Stanford basketball standout said, “and do it for my team and my family.” Dwight Powell told the San Francisco Gate in January of 2013.

Dedication to his late mother and Dwight’s support staff including personal trainer in Toronto Vlad Matevski and childhood best friends Ahmed and Omar have also helped Powell to persevere Russell mentioned.

Many feel Powell like most rookie big-men could do more damage in the Eastern Conference then the Western conference. Russell though thinks Powell could thrive on the west coast.

“He’s always played west coast. He’s a west coast type of guy so I think that the Western Conference is better for him with his versatility. He’s still a lean forward overall comparison to other power forwards. More of a face-up, attack you, shoot you, pump fake you, drive you, with finesse moves and also athletic with it. So west coast would be better for him in my opinion.”

After his freshman season Powell was already on NBA mock drafts. Now upon graduation he is slotted as a fringe second rounder. Russell who has strong ties to Powell even today thinks otherwise.

“His stock is growing in the draft. There is a mock draft with different pundits and analysts and so forth out that people see online. Then there is an actual draft board and list that the NBA GM’s and scouts have access to.”

“When I’m getting a lot of these phone calls from different teams asking for details about Dwight’s past and his background and all that stuff, it makes me to believe he is looked upon a little bit more than those draft boards are saying. We’ve had good feedback about his workouts.” Russell shares.

Russell does have a point. With all due respect to Stanford’s program, a great triangle offense with constant movement, positioning and a lot of post action. Dwight excels handling the rock and changing directions. In addition to shooting with range offering quickness, mobility, and athleticism.

Powell kept his word to his mother but has he shown enough promise to warrant an NBA shot? Position wise in the association and where Dwight will be drafted according to Russell makes Canadians on Draft day optimistic.

“In the NBA he is a Hybrid forward, stretch four, combo forward all those kind of things. I personally see him being a first round pick, a late first round, no matter what those guys say. He is more athletic and skilled then they originally thought he was”