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In the overall passage of time, five or six years constitutes little more than the blink of an eye, but the distance Olivier Hanlan has travelled in the world of basketball in that span is more than a little eye-opening.

Back when Hanlan was playing for Ecole secondaire Grande-Rivière in Aylmer, his goal was to earn an invitation to play for Quebec’s provincial team. Then to play for the national team in his age groups. Then to find a spot at a U.S.-based prep school, followed by earning a scholarship offer from a major U.S. university program.

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Check, check, check and check.

Now comes undoubtedly his loftiest goal ever: being selected in the National Basketball Association draft and joining the wave of Canadians earning the right to play for pay in the world’s top professional league.

“It’s definitely motivating for a guy like me and other Canadian guys coming up. It’s eye-opening,” Hanlan said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he was meeting up again with agent Michael Tellem.