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He's from Canada! In my experience, Canadian people tend to be exceptionally nice, laid back, and fun. Maybe Denham Brown is too. But you wouldn't know it from the big, mean, and burly way the young UConn forward barrels to the hole in this video.

He's not smiling in any of these photos either.

Ryan McNeill at HoopsAddict is from Canada, too. He explains that it's his national duty to root for Denham Brown to be drafted high even if it might cost the pride of Canada, the Toronto Raptors.

Despite NBA teams pouring millions of dollars into scouting the past couple of NBA Drafts have seen a handful of players fall into the second round that have become stars and legit role players in the League. Players like Gilbert Arenas, Chris Duhon, Zaza Pachulia, Luke Walton and Trevor Ariza slipped into the second round and make it reasonable to expect that a player like Denham Brown could be the latest draft night steal.

Brown first burst onto the basketball scene after he scored 111 points in a high school game for West Hill Collegiate in Toronto. The University of Connecticut Huskies quickly signed him to a scholarship offer and he won a National Championship with the Huskies during the 2003-04 season. Brown followed up winning a National Championship in the spring of 2004 by playing in the Four Nations Tournament for the Canadian Senior National in the summer of 2004. He started all six games and led Canada in scoring with 13.8 points per game. In a win over Croatia he netted 25 points while grabbing 7 boards. Another impressive game in the tournament saw him score 19 points and corral 11 rebounds in a loss to Brazil. During his senior season as a Huskie this season Brown didn’t have flashy numbers - 10.7 points in 23.2 minutes per game - but he was a huge reason why the Huskies advanced as far as they did in March Madness. In a Tournament game against the Washington Huskies he was the player who hit the huge shot with seconds left in regulation to force the game into overtime and his scoring spark was a big rason why Connecticut went as far as they did in the tournament.

Despite his skills as a player, he often deferred to his teammates so that his team could enjoy success. Numerous writers and tv analysts have wondered why Brown won’t take over games for the Huskies like he did for the Canadian National team and now pro scouts doubt whether Brown can play at the NBA level because he was content last season deferring to Marcus Williams, Hilton Armstrong and Rudy Gay.

Despite at times playing in the shadow of his teammates at Connecticut it appears that Brown may be drafted on Wednesday. According to Toronto Sun writer Steve Buffery, “at one point after he finished his senior year at the University of Connecticut, there was talk that Brown, who averaged 10.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and shot 40% from the floor for the Huskies this past season, would not be drafted at all. But slowly over the past months, as he worked out for various NBA teams, including the Raptors, scouts began to talk and Brown’s stock rose. Most mock drafts on the Internet now list the small forward/shooting guard as a high second-round pick and some, including nbadraft.net, have him going in the first round.”

Part of the reason that scouts are now talking about Brown is because of his strong showing at the pre-draft camp. It was at this camp that Brown impressed scouts with his no step vertical jump (28.0"), his maximum vertical jump (34.5") and his bench press (he lifted 185 pounds 12 times). Of the 80 players at this camp Brown finished a respectable 36th. As a point of comparison, other small forwards and shooting guards such as Brandon Roy finished 30th, Maurice Ager finished 37th, Taj Gray finished 52nd, Shawne Williams finished 57th and Adam Morrison finished 59th.

After learning that the Toronto Raptors scheduled Brown for a second visit I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’s still on the board when they get to their turn to pick in the second round. However, the Brown fan in me is hoping that another NBA team decides to invest a first round pick and guaranteed three-year contract on him.

Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant reports:

Bryan Colangelo has said he will consider taking Brown at No.35. In Toronto, he would join former Husky Charlie Villanueva.

"It would be nice for people here if I stayed here to play," Brown said. "That would be fine with me, but I just want to get on the court and start playing again."

He might have improved his position just enough that he won't be available at No.35.

"I've heard that from some people," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "I think people are fascinated by the fact that he's so multidimensional, and obviously he's got a pro body. ... I think after guys coach a lot in the NBA, they're looking for a guy that's strong and tough and can do a lot of different things."

Brown, 6 feet 6, 220 pounds, has the chiseled frame to compete in the NBA. He can defend, rebound, run the floor and score, but he must prove he is a threat from deep. Brown hit 32.6 percent of his three-pointers last season.