.Scruton was offered a spot after Hawaii conducted a scouting c

Editors note: The 2016-17 college basketball season will be the Year of the Freshmen,?featuring what could be the best class weve ever seen. Over the next two weeks we will get familiar with the best of the best, examining who they are and where each of the top 10 prospects in the 2016 ESPN 100 came from.Read more: No. 10: Dukes Frank Jackson | No. 9: Kentuckys Malik Monk No. 8: Michigan States Miles Bridges | No. 7: Washingtons Markelle Fultz No. 6: Kentuckys DeAaron Fox | No. 5: Kentuckys Bam Adebayo No. 4: UCLAs Lonzo Ball | No. 3: Dukes Jayson Tatum No. 2: Kansas Josh Jackson | No. 1: Dukes Harry GilesSEATTLE -- His story says Jordan.His play screams LeBron.And when his playing career is all over, Washingtons Markelle Fultz wants to be in a category all his own. Not just listed among the all-time greats, but above them.My mindset is different from a lot of people, Fultz said. You ask people their goal and theyll say to make it to the NBA. My goal isnt just to make it there, its to be the best that ever played.Its not an outrageous vision to the 6-foot-4 native of Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He knows how far he has come in only three short years when, as a 10th-grader at perennial prep powerhouse DeMatha High School, he did not make the varsity roster. Now hes being projected as potentially a top-three pick in the 2017 NBA draft if he decides to bolt college after one season.His fast rise isnt the absurd piece in all of this. Fultz says its crazy the way people react to him now. It seems with every new interview theres a new way to critique a guy who has yet to play a college game.People go from why dont I smile, to the JV story, to just the way I play is awkward, Fultz said. Its been kind of weird, but Im used to it now.Ah, the JV story. Like Michael Jordan, Fultz didnt make varsity as a sophomore and ended up playing on the junior varsity team. He already has grown tired of having that story regurgitated time and again, but finally accepted that its going to be the story for the rest of my life.Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, for one, loves that story. Without it, this could have been an entirely different story for the Huskies. Had Fultz made varsity as a sophomore, theres a good chance a school closer to home would have noticed him first and Romar never would have been able to pry him from the East Coast.Instead, associate head coach Raphael Chillious arrived early to scout a varsity game when he noticed Fultz playing junior varsity. He played nearly every position on the floor and always seemed to make the play that was needed at the time.I called Lorenzo and told him, Coach, youre going to call me crazy, but this kid is 5-foot-9. If he grows hes going to be a NBA All-Star -- not a NBA player, an All-Star, Chillious said.Fultz did grow between his sophomore and junior years, prompting Romar to have the same giddy reaction the first time he saw Fultz play in person. Romar called Chillious and asked if they were being Punkd. Washington was the only major Division I school watching Fultz play, but it was clear to the Huskies that he was going to be a special talent.Fultz played everything from point guard to power forward, which is why many schools who ended up recruiting him late in the process viewed him as a wing.I thought, I dont care who has not offered him or what anybody says -- call him a 2 or a 3 -- that kid is an NBA point guard, Romar said. The way he moved, the feel he had. And, that game, I dont think he was playing hard. You could just see it.Everyone sees it now.What they didnt see is how all the small details worked together to get him to this point.Ebony Fultz, his mother, said she didnt have a grandiose plan of grooming her son into an NBA player when she first sought out a basketball trainer when he was around 7. She started taking to Keith Williams, a former high school classmate who taught basketball fundamentals to kids as young as 5.Her plan was simply to get Markelle involved in something he enjoyed to occupy his time. She wanted him active.The only thing she knew for sure is that she didnt want him to play football. She viewed it as too dangerous, although there was that one season she relented and Fultz played on the offensive line for the team at the Marlboro Boys & Girls Club. He dreamed of being a running back, but the coachs son got all the carries.She also enrolled him in karate classes, where he worked his way up to a green belt. He learned a lot of things he hopes to never use, stuff like if somebody tried to stab me, I could get a knife out of their hands.What stayed with him from karate was the self-discipline he learned, which ironically led him to stop the pursuit of a black belt. He wanted his focus, and all of his free time, to go toward basketball, so he left karate behind as he went to high school.Fultz always showed Williams he had a will to work hard. When he broke his right wrist playing on Williams 15-and-under AAU team, Fultz showed up the next day at the gym shooting and dribbling with his left hand. Williams helped Fultz cultivate his competitiveness.We definitely paid attention to rankings, and yeah we did kind of target guys, Williams said. We were playing in one tournament and a guy called me from Charlotte and was like, Hey, you want to play against the Atlanta Celtics? And I was like, Yeah. They got Kobi Simmons [who this season is a freshman at Arizona] on that team, they got another kid thats ranked really high. ... And so, yeah, we did target those kids.Now Seattle is a target for NBA scouts. Fultz has made the must-see list, as many teams have already been through to see him practice. What theyve learned is that Fultz is still holding on to that 10th-grade version of himself. He still views himself as an unknown entity just trying to make a name.That approach has endeared him to his Huskies teammates.Sophomore guard David Crisp was one of Fultzs hosts when he came on his official visit. As Fultz catapulted in the rankings before arriving on campus, Crisp expected a different person to arrive as well.When he came I knew they were saying this kid is going to be one-and-done, and when it got closer to him getting here I saw stuff [about Fultz] moving up, like he might be top five or the No. 1 pick, Crisp said. I was like, man he might be kinda cocky. Hes like really the opposite.Romar has held Fultz out from several early practices to rest him. When Fultz is on the sideline, its not unusual to see him filling water cups during breaks as if he were a team manager.He doesnt have that part of him that says, Im Markelle Fultz, who are you? Chillious said. That doesnt exist.Thats why Fultz has no desire to talk about the NBA right now. Hes just trying to lead the Huskies back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. Hes afraid that if he stops to think about the future, hell get passed by in the process by someone who was like him in the 10th grade.I want to make sure that Im not the one that lets up, because I know that some people let up that I passed now, I outworked them, Fultz said. I want to make sure that Im always working. Im trying to get in front of everybody so far ahead that theres no way they can catch me.Custom Ozzie Smith Jersey . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Custom Padres Jersey China . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. http://www.custompadresjersey.com/ .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. Ozzie Smith Jersey Large . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Authentic Custom Padres Jersey . With his new coach and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Boris Becker watching him during an official match for the first time, Djokovic appeared tentative early against the Slovakian player, who often appeared content to keep the ball in play.SYDNEY -- It was more than two hours before the start of Saturdays U.S. college season opener between California and Hawaii, and Anthony Goodluck and his son were already milling outside Sydneys Olympic stadium, soaking up the early atmosphere.The rental company manager, dressed in a Cal Bears jersey, and son Jaiden, with a long Cal scarf wrapped around his neck, came 950 kilometers (590 miles) south from Brisbane for the big game.The weather was cooperating, with sunny skies and light winds on a late winter day and high temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). Despite nearly 75 millimeters (three inches) of rain in the past week, the stadium turf was firmI actually coach some gridiron in Brisbane, and Id take college football over the NFL any day, said Goodluck. Im a big Miami fan -- go Hurricanes -- but after that I love Cal State. Were really looking forward to seeing our first game.It was the first time college football had been played in Sydney. The last American football of any kind was an NFL preseason game at the Olympic stadium that attracted 73,000 spectators in 1999.Organizers said two weeks ago they hoped for a crowd in excess of 65,000, and Saturdays attendance was close to that -- 61,247 in the 83,500-seat stadium. The final score wasnt close -- Cal beat Hawaii 51-31.Early arrivals Saturday had a chance to try their luck throwing an American football through a hole in a net in a radio station promotion. Foot-long hot dogs were big sellers at the outdoor booths, but in keeping with the multticultural nature of western Sydney where the stadium is located, Asian and middle Eastern goods also featured prominently on the menus.ddddddddddddMichelle Hubbard of Melbourne was an early arrival for another reason -- her son, Ben Scruton, is a walk-on player for Hawaii and will travel back with the team when the Rainbow Warriors leave for Honolulu right after the game.I had to get him his visa, Hubbard said. And I have four tickets if anyone needs them. Ben bought them nearly a year ago for him and his mates. Now hes in the stadium as an official member of the team.Scruton was offered a spot after Hawaii conducted a scouting camp in Melbourne earlier this year. Hes like many other Australian Rules players who have earned spots on college teams and in the NFL, mostly as punters.Another set of parents were dressed in Cal uniforms -- Greg and Cynthia Madden -- who travelled from southern California to support their son, Cal defensive end DeVante Wilson.We cant wait to get in there, to get this thing started, Greg Madden said as a marching band warmed up inside the stadium.Both teams brought cheerleading squads to Australia, and Hawaii had 30 members of its marching band for Saturdays game.The fans mostly supported Hawaii, the underdogs, and other than reports of beer running out in parts of the stadium, most of the fans appeared to enjoy what was likely their first taste of American football. ' ' '