"I was always in the middle of all the pictures," recalled Dunlop with a laugh. "I was standing straight up, everyone else was on the bench and I was still taller than them."

Having just finished Grade 9 at St. Francis Secondary School, Dunlop is still growing and has reached six feet 10 inches tall.

After being encouraged to give basketball a try, Dunlop -- somewhat reluctantly he admits -- gave the sport a try while still in elementary school and quickly came to love the game. But there have been some growing pains along the way as he soon learned his height would only help him so much.

His dad, David, was quick to credit several people for his son's success, which culminated recently with a spot on the Basketball Ontario midget boy's team that will participate in the national championships August 5-9 in Kamloops, B.C.

"Tom Grantis, Brad Rootes, Scott Murray and Brian Mulligan from Brock University had seen Keegan at the Basketball Ontario development camps where they were coaches and they pushed him to pursue basketball," said David. "He was always tall and he tried soccer, but he wasn't built for soccer. He tried hockey, but was too gentle. We put him into Tae Kwon Do and he got his second degree black belt, but with his height, basketball kind of took over and we just couldn't balance both of them."Last year at St. Francis, Dunlop practised and played in tournaments with the school's senior team and went along when the Phoenix won silver at OFSAA. He also played with the junior team during the Zone 4 season and, along with his dad, credits coaches Pat Sullivan and Pat O'Leary for helping with his development.

"When I started playing with the senior team, height doesn't get you anywhere," he said. "You also have to be strong and quick because they could just jump and block your shot."

He says playing against teammates Alex Shah and Tshing Kasamba in practice helped make him a better player.

"He would push me to be stronger and more physical," said Keegan.

The road to the provincial team began with an initial tryout camp of almost 300 players before finishing with a roster of 15 that will take on the rest of Canada next month at Thompson Rivers University.

"It was a relief to make the team, to know that I had a spot on the roster and I could just play my game," he said.

Keegan is also attending elite development camps in Toronto and says he is looking forward to seeing just what the next few years have in store for him.

"I'd like to get a scholarship in the States, get an education and maybe play basketball overseas," he says. "I'm really looking forward to the next year at St. Francis. I think we'll have a really good team."