COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.– The last time we heard about a fairy tale like Markelle Fultz, it concerned Michael Jordan.

As a sophomore in high school, Jordan was cut from his high school varsity team at Laney High in Wilmington, N.C. and wound up playing with junior varsity for a season before growing five inches and eventually making the transition to the greatest player on the planet.

The 6-5 Fultz has a similar story to tell.

Two years ago, he was just 6-2. Fultz tried out for the varsity at fabled DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md. but didn’t make the cut.

Fultz, who grew up in Upper Marlboro, Md., was advised to transfer out of the private school that achieved storied status with 39 Washington, D.C. Catholic League championships, a Naismith Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten, who won 1274 career games; and an assembly line of great players like John Austin, Sid Catlett, Adrian Dantley, Kenny Carr, Sidney Lowe, Adrian Branch, Danny Ferry, Jerrod Mustaf, Keith Bogans, Jerian Grant, Victor Oladipo and Jerami Grant.

Instead, Fultz spent his sophomore year on the DeMatha jayvees. He listened to his coaches and worked on improving his game.

“In this day and age, I don’t know many players with his talent who would have done that,” DeMatha coach Mike Jones said.

Fultz, who started playing with he was just three years old (“I was outside a lot, shooting the basketball” he said. “MY mom didn’t like me playing all those video games.”), spent all his time in the gym, working on all aspects of his game and on his strength and conditioning

He started his meteoric rise to stardom as a junior. He dominated the UnderArmour summer circuit playing for the D.C. Blue Devils the summer before and received scholarship offers from blue bloods like Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas, Louisville and North Carolina after his junior year. Fultz surprised everyone when he chose the University of Washington because he wanted to “blaze his own path” and felt comfortable with head coach Lorenzo Romar and had a close relationship with assistant coach Raphael Chillous, who is from the D.C. suburbs and began recruiting Fultz before he ever played a varsity game.

“Raph’ was recruiting me every day in the summer, He was at every game” Fulitz said. “Then coach Romar came out to see me play.”

The Huskies got a dynamic guard who averaged 19.1 points, 8,8 rebounds his senior year when Dematha won 31 games and the tournament of Maryland private schools championship. They have a great legacy there,” he said. “They hate losing. They always want to win. That’s the way I am. I always want to win. No matter what it is, even if I was racing my mom. It’s an all boys school so it’s very competitive in the classroom and on the court.” Fultz was a second team USA Today All America and was selected to play in the McDonald’s All America game, the Jordan Brand Classic and the USA Junior Select team that defeated the World Select team, 101-67, in the Nike Hoop Summit at Portland.

“There’s not anything he can’t do basketball court,” Romar told the Seattle Times. “He can dunk on a 6-10 guy. He can really pass the ball. He’s gotten to the point where he can shoot the ball really well. He’s going to do very well with how we pressure the ball with the length and covering the passing lanes. He has good speed with the basketball. and he will do anything you ask, which is unusual for someone that talented.”

Fultz developed his shooting skills from working with a private trainer Keith Williams from D.C. from age seven. Williams has also worked with NBA stars like DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson. The results have been staggering, especially with Fultz’ three point shooting. “I was always a pretty good shooter when I was younger. I just wanted to show people what I can do. We actually work on any shot from half court forward,,” Fultz said. “We start under the basketball and move back, all the way from where Steph Curry would shoot from. Now, everybody wants to go out shoot the ball like that. But he kinda hurt the game making everybody want to shoot the three, big, small.”

Fultz’ multiple skills– including his deep three point range and quickness to the basket– were all on display the first night of tryouts for USA Basketball’s U18 team that will compete in the Tournament of the Americas in Chile that starts July 19. “It’s an honor to be here with all these young guys pushing me and to represent the USA,” he said. Fultz looked like the best player on the floor the first night of what is the best youth camp in recent memory, put together by USA Basketball Youth Development evaluator B.J. Johnson. Fultz missed most of Day 2 with a sore knee but should recover in time to be the starting two guard on a powerful team with a potential starting lineup of point guard Quade Green of Neuman-Goretti High in Philadelphia, 6-8 forward Mike Porter Jr. of Father Tilton in Columbia, Mo. and 6-7 forward Miles Bridges, who will be a freshman at Michigan State; along with 6-10 center Jarrett Allen, who will be a freshman at Texas. There is a good chance Romar could also sign Porter, the ranked player in the Class of 2017 since he recently signed his father Mike Sr. as an assistant coach.

The initial 26 player roster will be cut to 17 Thursday afternoon and cut again to 12 after a secondary training camp in Houston the second week of July. Other players making a big impression include 6-5 guard Hamidou Diallo of Putnam Science, Conn. Academy, 6-2 point guard Matt Coleman of Oak Hill, Va. Academy, 6-8 forward P.J. Washington of Findlay, Nev. Prep and 6-11 center Mitchell Robinson of Chalmette High in New Orleans. Mohamad Bamba, a 6-11 center from Westtown, Pa. School who was considered a lock to make the team before he suffered a high ankle sprain, is here at the Olympic training center in street clothes and will likely be a late add if he is healthy enough to make the trip.

Fultz will be following in the footsteps of guards like Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy, Quincy Pondexter, Isaiah Thomas, Terence Ross, Tony Wroten and C.J. Wilcox, who were all either NBA first round picks or are playing in the league. Romar, who has estalbished himself as one of the best recruiters in the country, has two freshmen from this year’s team– 6-10 Marquese Chriss and 6-5 point guard Dejounte Murray– who are both projected to be lottery picks.

“They have sent a lot of players from my position to the pros,” Fultz said. “They do what they have to do.”

With his future in mind, Fultz had no problem deciding to make the cross country trip to Seattle. “If I”m fortunate enough to play in the league, I’ll be doing a lot ot traveling. I could be living anywhere in the country,” he said. But he didn’t want to leave without saying good bye. He recently got a tatoo on his wrist with the name of his mother Ebony, who raised him; and his sister Shauntese, who is a dancer. “Eternal love,” he said.