Heslip, Grassroots on Fire

by Zach Smart Grassroots Canada, the herb which yields the basketball seed in the hockey hotbed of Toronto, has enjoyed a scintillating July in the NCAA’s open evaluation period. Several top-flight programs are beginning to dig into their pockets and pay attention to the AAU program that’s groomed a torrent of homegrown talent. Johnny Flynn, Paul Harris, Denham Brown, and one-time NBA all-star Jamaal Magloire are prime examples area products who flourished in this Division-I launchpad. An influx of young talent turned heads at the recent First Eight and National Invitational Tournaments in Springfield, MA. Spearheading Grassrooots was Brady Heslip, a gym rat and quick-strike three-point assassin who shot jokers out of the gym (not to mention shoe collector, as we covered in the SLAM 129 KICKS section). Heslip has long carried the tag of moneyball shootist. He spent his past winter scorching the nets at Burlington Notre Dame in Ontario. When he wasn’t on the hardwood, Heslip was tra...