Holy Toledo, he's got hops

Suffice to say, it didn't take St. Francis Xavier's Brazilian newcomer, Islam Luiz de Toledo, very long to make an impression tonight at the Jack Donahue Memorial Tournament in Ottawa.

Eight minutes into the game against the host Gee-Gees, who won 93-67, the 6-foot-7 Toledo (he's a long 6-7, as hoopsheads would say) had already had four genuine wow moments: Two blocks, a one-handed tomahawk dunk and a tough putback basket. On the latter, it immediately registered that he got up higher and faster than these eyes are used to seeing from a player in the Canadian university ranks.

He also made a nice underhand wraparound pass to set up a fast-break layup and made a second dunk, a reverse one-hander where he came under the basket and flushed it.

"I've been coaching forever, and this guy is the best athlete I've ever seen at this level," Ottawa coach Dave DeAveiro said afterward.

Toledo, from Sao Paulo, played two high school seasons in Modesto, Calif., and as a report at cishoops.ca noted this summer, was originally committed to play NCAA D-1 at Brigham Young University. His mom had some health problems, so he returned home to help her for a couple years. Even in a one-sided defeat, he left questions about what he'll do once he figures out this brand of basketball. He's got serious dropjaw.