But in a city that stakes its civic pride on its impressive roster of basketball stars, Aquille Carr isn’t built physically like previous metro-area hoops legends Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. He weighs 140 pounds. Though he’s listed at 5’8’’, locals know he measures in at least two inches shorter. His small stature has been an advantage at times; it’s branded him an unlikely hero, a role Carr seems to relish.

"Whatever you say he can’t do, he does," his father says. "He blocks it out. That’s how Aquille takes a lot of stuff. He likes to be the underdog."

It’s easy for both purists and casual fans to get behind Carr’s game, which consists of blinding slashes to the bucket and deft, patient dribble breakdowns of a defense’s weaknesses. He’s a Wow player. Though many more in College Park or Lexington or Waco will be singing the Crime Stopper’s praises, Baltimore has stood behind him as long as he’s been playing, including men’s league games where a not-yet-teenage Carr held his own against his father and his friends.

"When someone rises to the level that Carr has, [Baltimore’s] basketball community, which is extremely tight-knit, completely rallies and gets behind that person," Bracken says. "I think certainly he’s had a lot of support in that regard."

In fact, Carr has already won over many of the same players he looks up to—some dote on the pride of Baltimore.

"I first heard about him on Twitter, someone sent me a link about Carr and how good he was," says Brandon Jennings, who got to know from workouts at St. Frances Academy. "The things he does on the court are amazing for a player his size."

Durant, a long, rangy player, already sees the advantages—tangible and not—of Carr’s size.

"He can break you down," says Durant. "He’s small, but he can score on anybody. He has amazing athletic ability and he has heart. You gotta respect a player like that, no matter how small he is."

Though recently drafted Memphis Grizzlies guard and former Kansas star Josh Selby refuted the fact that Carr outscored him in their famous matchup—Selby should probably revisit that box score—he sees big things for a player that he refers to as his little brother.

"The first time I met Aquille he was probably 12. I said, that’s a small version of me!" Selby says. "So I fell in love with the kid’s game from there. He has the talent to play in the NBA. As long as he continues to grow I can’t see how he’s not lottery."

Muggsy Bogues, the beloved Baltimore-bred 5’3’’ former Charlotte Hornets guard that Carr regularly cites as a player he looks up to, relates to the young player’s circumstances.

"When we were growing up we were surrounded by five projects," Bogues says. "It was a grind, it was tough. Everybody had that swagger going on in that city. Even as a kid, being my size, I had to just be among the rest of the guys. And that’s where my attitude and my confidence and my ability to learn the game came from. In Baltimore, you gotta have that swagger. And that’s what Aquille has."

Though Carr, as one might expect from a teenager fish-hooked from Phys Ed to talk to a reporter, was somewhat short with his responses when we talked, he was still cheerful and direct.

"People overlook me because I’m little," Carr says. "They’ll be like, you can’t do this, you can’t do that. I just prove ’em wrong."

He comes from a tight family, which includes his older brother Alan Jr., a former football star at Lake Clifton, his sister Ashley, who just graduated from Towson University, and his parents, Alan Sr. and mother, Tammy. In an environment consisting of so many broken homes, the Carrs routinely hang together, hitting the movies, bowling, and dining out together on special occasions.