Wiggins is the next big thing in Canada.

Andrew Wiggins

In many ways, he's like a lot of other budding basketball stars.
He is the son of a former NBA player. He is big enough - and good enough - to compete with those much older than he is. He is being sought by some of the top college programs in the country, even though he still hasn't started high school. And he is the star of a viral video that shows him overwhelming kids his own age.
 But if you're looking for the player some consider the next basketball prodigy, you'll have to go somewhere unusual to find him: Canada.
That's right. The land of Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby may be producing the next great basketball player.
His name is Andrew Wiggins.
"I can definitely understand why people say that," Ro Russell, founder and coach of AAU powerhouse Grassroots Canada, said. "The things he does sometimes make you want to say that and then you have to check yourself and try to look at it from a neutral stance. But the potential is definitely there for him to be one of the best ever - and not just from Canada."
Canada? Really?
Granted, the country did produce two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash. But after that: basically marginal big men such as Bill Wennington of Montreal, and Jamaal Magloire of Toronto.
Wiggins, the son of former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins, appears to be on another level already.
The16-year-old sophomore from Toronto is already garnering interest from the likes of Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse and Florida State. The 6-foot-6 guard was playing competitive basketball by the third grade, dunking by the seventh grade and spent the last two summers competing against elite players - most at least two years his senior - while playing for Grassroots Canada and the Canadian Cadet Men's National Team.
"He's a really, really special athlete," said Roy Rana, who coached Wiggins and Team Canada at the FIBA U17 World Championship and the Nike Global Challenge this summer. "He's pretty impressive for a kid his age. Even though he's two, three, four years younger than everybody else, he certainly doesn't seem out of place."
Rivals.com national basketball analyst Jerry Meyer, who saw Wiggins play at the Global Challenge, agreed with the assessment.
"He is a great young talent with top-shelf athleticism and tons of potential," he said.
It's too soon to judge the class of 2014, but Meyer already senses Wiggins will be near the top of the list when that time comes.
"He does have the look of a Top 10 prospect and could conceivably be right at the top in the class," he said. He'll likely have to come to the United States first.