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Leon Powe: The Real Deal

I know this story is a little old, but I loved watching Leon Powe at Cal and wished the Golden State Warriors had drafted Leon Powe. If not for the 2 knee injuries he'd have been a 1st rounder. And I'll admit it, I'm biased. I'm a big Cal fan and loved watching him hustle, rebound, and score his way into serious consideration for Pac-10 Player of the Year (He ultimately lost to Brandon Roy who isn't too bad himself). But I'm not here to tell you how good he was in college or his potential in the NBA. It's just good to see a local kid who's suffered through difficult times grow up and achieve success. So, I just wanted to share with you what he's gone through to get where he is today.

I'm sure some of you saw the Leon Powe article written by Scott Ostler over at SF Gate.com, "A Grown Man Taking Care of Business." But if you haven't read the article, it's definitely worth a read to know about Powe's story.

But it's not like Powe has never scuffled. Fatherless at 2, homeless at 7, eventually into the foster system. His mother, Connie Landry, died when he was a high school junior. He's had two major knee reconstructions.

...He's taking care of back-to-school expenses for his six siblings, ages 6 to 20...He's kicking in the dough for a free kids basketball camp he'll hold next month at Merritt College...Powe and mentor/friend Bernard Ward are founding an agency to place foster children and group-home children in top-flight schools.

..."You just got to keep working hard, there ain't nothing else about it," Powe says. "It ain't cars, it ain't money, it ain't none of that. This is a dream come true, you get to play in the NBA, you want to be the best player you can be. I know I do."





Also over at Celtics Blog, in their piece about Celtics Power Forwards, they had this to say about Powe.

I haven?t talked about the backups yet but there?s not much to discuss. The Grown Man Leon (Master) Powe is the backup to the backup. The guy behind the guy behind the guy. He is going to surprise some people this year and he?s a rock on the post.



Any Cal fans out there rooting for Powe? Think he should have won Pac-10 Player of the Year?

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