Eighteen-year-old Jonathan Koud will dribble a basketball at the Kris Joseph Basketball Academy Camp, hosted in at Cégep du Vieux Montréal this weekend, but some day soon he envisions himself on a much bigger stage.

"Seriously, I'm looking to go to the NBA," Koud says. "Its the best thing, because we kids need to learn from someone, and from Kris Joseph I think it's really good."

Koud is grateful for the chance to learn from a player with a resumé like Joseph.

He was a star player at Syracuse University, was drafted into the NBA by the Boston Celtics and now plays professional basketball in France.

But Koud may not realize how much of an opportunity this camp really is. Joseph says when he was Koud's age, it was a lot more difficult to find professionals to train with.

"I remember growing up and not having many camps like this to attend and I figured since I was in a position, why not do it? Why not give kids of the same upbringing as myself an opportunity to come out, work hard for the weekend with guys who have played NCAA basketball?" Joseph says.

For Joseph sharing his experience with the next generation of Montreal's basketball players is the realization of a dream.

"It's amazing. That's all I ever wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to show kids that me coming from Côte-des-Neiges, which is — or was seen as — a tougher neighbourhood in Montreal. I just wanted to show them that there is a way to get out — through basketball, through education."

Montreal is 'next up'

With more than half a dozen top-end NBA draft picks coming out of Toronto over the last few years, there is no debate: Toronto is the hub for this generation of Canada's basketball player development. But Joseph says Montreal-based players are getting more and more attention.

"We're next up. Toronto has the bulk right now, but I think in Montreal the kids and the coaches are starting to realize that we have a talent pool as well and it's just a matter of getting it together and making the right programs work."

Joseph says high-performance summer camps are part of the formula but basketball programs like Thetford Academy are instrumental to the development of young prospects like Koud.

This fall, Koud will head to Texas to play basketball at junior college. He then hopes to earn a Division 1 NCCA scholarship.

Joseph confirmed to CBC that he has an offer to play with Orleans of the French Pro A League next season.