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CHICAGO - The young man with broad shoulders and a bright smile leans back, relaxed in his chair, and crosses his muscular arms, because young men like him, with broad shoulders and bright smiles dont have much to worry about. Theyre big enough for every moment. The world and its opportunities should belong to him: Hes 23, 6-foot-6, and a recent graduate of Iowa State — and oh, this Brampton boy is headline news in Des Moines, Iowa. And if this was Des Moines, and the young man was sitting inside the Hilton Coliseum - where the Iowa State Cyclones play - hed be affectionately crushed by so many wearing so much cardinal and yellow, because they know him. Hes Melvin Ejim: No one has played more basketball games for Iowa State (135). Few Cyclones have ever been as successful on a basketball court (12th in scoring with 1,643 points). But this isnt Des Moines, this is a big gymnasium on Chicagos west side. Its the second day of the NBA combine and in this large gym are plenty other large, young men with huge reputations from other corners of America. And they want to steal Melvins dream. Because in front of NBA general managers and scouts there are no pep bands to proclaim Ejims college achievements; all he has are his broad shoulders and a basketball - his tools to answer the crucial question: Who is Melvin Ejim? But dont they not know him already? "I dont think they knew as much about me," Ejim says, and his smile turns into a sneer. "If anything, people knew about me more in the Big 12 (NCAA conference), and everybody appreciated what I did, but it was still kind of downplayed. "But I think once I got the Big 12 Player of the Year, and I beat out Andrew Wiggins - who is a phenomenal player - people started to realize: Wait, Wiggins was in that league? Marcus Smart was in that league? Joel Embiid was in that league? And THIS guy got the Big 12 Player of the Year? It solidified for people: Well he might actually be pretty good, but it still left some doubt in people." Doubt? What kind of doubt? There was Ejim on Day 1, fluttering along the true NBA 3-point line, hitting more shots from distance than any other prospect. Then on Day 2 hes screaming on the court, communicating, waving his arms, exploding from one end to the other, making himself too loud and too energetic to be forgotten. Meanwhile, his fellow high-ranked Canadians, Tyler Ennis and Nik Stauskas, decided to participate in only selective drills. And Wiggins, Embiid, and Jabari Parker, the provisional Top three prospects ahead of June 26s NBA draft, decided to skip the event entirely. Doubt? There cant be any doubt of Melvin Ejims passion and potential. Does he really have to sell himself so hard to get drafted? "I think he does," says Matt Kamalsky, director of operations for the college prospect website DraftExpress. "When you look at guys getting drafted who are significantly older than their class, its very rare for guys over 23/24-years old to get picked at all, let a lone make a team, and then be successful at all in the NBA. "But just because it hasnt happened doesnt me it wont work for him." Its not a unique perspective: Too old and too small are ubiquitous descriptions of Ejims flaws in most scouting reports. He spent four years at Iowa State, while Wiggins, Ennis and Stauskass immediate talent created immediate hype. The highest Ejim is projected to be selected is somewhere in the mid-to-late second round. After the Top 30 draft picks, however, there are little-to-no guaranteed contracts. But criticism and long odds wont blunt Ejims smile. Defiance somehow makes it brighter. "People say Im too old, because on the paper it says Im 23 and the other guy is 22 and were born in the same year— its silly," Ejim says. "They say stay in college for four years, and I wasnt going to get any younger by staying. Its part of the process. "The undersized thing, Ive been hearing that from Day 1. That has kind of been overplayed now. Theyre saying Im undersized because they have to, because there is nothing else to say. Can you say I cant shoot well enough because I think I proved that [on Day 1 of the combine]. What are they going to say? That I didnt do well enough on the perimeter? Thats what they do here, they criticize—they want to evaluate." And Ejim wants to be evaluated. He wants to be poked and prodded and tested, again and again. He graduated with a history major and business minor, and in the future he wants to go to law school. But thats tomorrow. Today, he measures his growth with every shot he attempts, and every defensive challenge. He can feel himself growing into an NBA player. "A lot of people dont think I can shoot from the perimeter, and a lot of people dont think I can defend the perimeter," he says. "Im just trying to prove them wrong, and I think that is just the first step. Letting them know I can be a knockdown shooter. I can space the floor. I did it in college and being able to translate that to the (NBA) 3-point line — just showing people that I have the capability to do that, the capability to play on the perimeter as a [small forward] and it was gratifying." "Just listening to him talk its very obvious - and its not with all these guys - he knows what he needs to do in order to put himself in the best position to get drafted," Kamalsky says. "Guys dont have that kind of degree of self-awareness and maybe that maturity is a positive." And maturity, and perspective are Ejims greatest strengths. He came to the combine not just to show, but to tell. He wonders: Why would a general manager just obsess over a freakish, young talent that needs constant work? When here he is, learning, adapting, and thriving. Ejim remembers those early, early mornings - sometimes 6 am - walking or biking or busing to the Brampton or Mississauga YMCA. Sometimes hed have to bring his brothers health card and pretend to be someone else, because money was too tight for a membership, and one person can only have so many guest passes. And most of the time young Melvin wouldnt even get on the court; hed be off to side with a ball, watching his uncle and his uncles friend play, listening whenever he was told to: "Melvin, work on your handles." And he grew bigger and stronger and better, but he was still often an inch or inch and a half shorter than many others. So he worked and worked, from Amateur Athletic Union basketball to the NCAA. He counts his uncle, David, AAU coach Mike George (now his agent) and Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg, as part of his inner circle because they ingrained in him the everlasting directive; and if you listen to older, wiser Melvin long enough the mantra hits you like his smile: "I still think I can do a better job of being a better player. Solidify in peoples mind that Im a player, that Im good, that Im good enough." Those ranked higher than Ejim completely agree. "Ive worked out with him," says Ennis, projected to be selected in the Top 20. "I think he really shoots the ball better than people expect. At Iowa State he was playing more (small forward), going forward I think he has the ability to dribble the ball well enough to move to the wing." "We (Michigan) played Iowa State this year - Melvins a beast," says Stauskas, also potentially a Top-20 pick. "Hes a little bit undersized. Hes a guy I feel is going to go to workouts and really impress some people." Only when asked about workouts and meetings with NBA teams does Ejim become skittish. Dig deep enough and he reveals a meeting with the Utah Jazz next week, and then maybe three or four other teams after that. But each session is like a little secret, meant only for him. "My dream is to play in the NBA, to be a contributing part of a NBA team and continue to work, and be a solid player - the best player I can be. However I get there, time will tell." Maybe its why hes smiling: This is Melvin Ejims moment, after all. His big shoulders can bear it. Nike Zoom Sale . Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver. Nike Zoom Buy Online .com) - The NBA will be on display overseas Thursday with the New York Knicks taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at O2 Arena in London. http://www.wholesalenikezoom.com/ . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. Nike Zoom Online Shop . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday. Nike Zoom Cheap .com) - Kam Chancellor bobbed his head in celebration as he crossed the goal line on his game-clinching 90-yard interception return.DALLAS - Tyler Seguins week away from Dallas felt a little longer, probably because it included a pair of one-goal losses at Anaheim to start a first-round playoff series. The Dallas Stars headed west last weekend celebrating their first post-season berth since 2008 before a meaningless regular-season finale in Phoenix. They came home subdued but resolute, ready to see how fans who used to think playoff hockey was as regular as Easter on their calendar will react to 2,162 days without it. Game 3 is Monday night. "Be interesting to see the atmosphere, especially with these fans not seeing playoff hockey in a while," said Seguin, the teams leading scorer in the regular season. "Pretty long trip. Feels like we havent been home in a while." Seguin has seen his share of the post-season, even though hes just 22. But about half the Dallas roster hasnt, including linemate Jamie Benn, who was second to Seguin in points during the regular season. The inexperience showed in the playoff opener, when the Stars fell behind 3-0 in the first period of a 4-3 loss. "Other than that I think once the guys got their feet wet everyone stepped up and did a pretty good job," said Seguin, who won the 2011 Stanley Cup with Boston and already has 44 career playoff games. "Theres going be Game 7s and a lot of things you cant really teach. Youve just got to be there. But we have a lot of experience in this locker room." All those playoff newcomers still dont know what a win feels like either. Anaheims Ryan Getzlaf led a 3-2 victory Friday, getting a goal and an assist playing with a mask after he took a slapshot to the jaw iin the series opener.dddddddddddd Corey Perry also had a goal for the Ducks, who are looking for their first playoff series win since 2009 a year after losing to Detroit in the first round as the No. 2 seed. Anaheim is the top seed in the West this season against the wild-card Stars. "If you look at it, both goals were unassisted," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "So it wasnt like they had to make great plays. We handed both those players those opportunities." And the Stars didnt take advantage of their own chances. They outshot the Ducks 36-19, but couldnt pull even after Ryan Garbutt got them within a goal in the third period. Dallas pulled goalie Kari Lehtonen on a power play for a 6-on-4 advantage in the last 3 minutes, creating plenty of havoc but never getting one past Anaheim rookie Frederik Andersen, who has outplayed Lehtonen by stopping 66 of 71 shots. "Weve got to find a way to get a little bit more traffic on him, make life tough for him," said Benn, who had a goal on five shots in his playoff debut but just one shot Friday. "Hes been making some pretty big saves and weve got to find a way to bury our chances." If the Stars are going to get back in the series, home ice is the likely place to do it. They were 23-11-7 during the regular season, including 8-1-1 in their last 10. The home finale was a dominating 3-0 win over St. Louis to clinch a playoff spot. "Its pretty hard to go on the road," Seguin said. "Its an opportunity here at home to do the same thing they did to us." ___ Follow Schuyler Dixon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apschuyler ' ' '