The first time he watched Chris Boucher a little over two years ago, Oregon assistant Mike Mennenga wasn't sure the 6-foot-10 junior college forward would develop into a Pac-12-caliber prospect.

Boucher was thin as a sapling, all slender arms and spindly legs. He displayed an intriguing skill set for someone who had only played a year of organized basketball at that point, but his narrow frame suggested he might not ever grow big and strong enough to avoid being pushed around near the basket.

"When you see how slight he is, it can throw you off a little bit," Mennenga said. "It makes you wonder how he would translate to the Pac-12. It's easy to count out the kid and say, 'Oh, he's too skinny,' but we kept monitoring him. We needed to take a deeper look."

What the Oregon staff eventually decided was that the 190-pound Boucher was too unusual a talent to pass up. They conceded that many opposing big men would outweigh Boucher by more than 50 pounds, yet they believed his shot blocking ability would boost their defense and his ability to run the floor and finish in transition made him an ideal fit for their fast-paced offense.

Taking a risk on Boucher has so far turned out to be a prudent choice for Oregon. In his debut season, he has quieted concerns about his slight physique and quickly emerged as the team's top big man, helping the 24th-ranked Ducks to an impressive 6-1 start despite the season-long absence of injured point guard Dylan Ennis and center Jordan Bell.

Boucher's four blocks per game are the second most of any player in the nation and his nine in a November rout of Arkansas State broke Oregon's former school record of eight. Largely as a result of Boucher's 7-foot-4 wingspan and uncanny timing and instincts at the rim, opposing teams are shooting nearly six percent below the national average on two-point shots against the Ducks so far this year.

In addition to his shot blocking, Boucher has also averaged 12.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He is a menace in transition because he boasts the speed of a guard and the stamina of a distance runner. He's also an asset in half-court offense because he draws fouls and his shooting ability forces opposing big men to guard him out to the 3-point arc and opens up driving lanes for the rest of the Ducks.

"The way we play has been a perfect fit for him," Mennenga said. "Chris does a great job running the floor, he's super active and he's hard to get a body on. He's never going to be that broad-shouldered big man who weighs 250, but he has been able to use his strengths to exploit bigger, slower guys."

View photos Chris Boucher defends Baylor's 275-pound Rico Gathers. (AP Photo/Chris Pietsch) More

It's remarkable that Boucher is now a key contributor at Oregon because he didn't begin playing organized basketball until age 19.

A native of the Caribbean island Saint Lucia, Boucher moved with his family to a hardscrabble, crime-ridden section of Montreal when he was a toddler. He frequently played pick-up basketball at the park or at a local gym, but he and his family were seldom stationary long enough for him to join a school or club team that practiced regularly.

"We worked through tough situations that forced me to move around a lot growing up," Boucher said via email. "Looking back it wasn’t just me though. I had many friends, relatives, and their families going through the same issues you see in neighborhoods affected by poverty, crime, and unemployment. One of my favorite things during that time was going to play ball in the park. I knew I wanted to do that instead of hanging out with the wrong people."

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