If the three “Ds” — desire, determination and development — carry any weight with the talent sleuths, Carlos Powell will hear his name called during the National Basketball Association’s draft of college players Tuesday night.

“People don’t really appreciate his talents until they realize where he was, see where he is and understand where he will be,” said Tommy Johnson, Powell’s high school coach at Wilson High in Florence.

Johnson is biased, of course. But he has watched Powell blossom from a player who took up basketball late, at age 15, into an outstanding college performer at the University of South Carolina. He believes the pro game will follow.

“Relentless,” a rival Southeastern Conference coach called the 6-foot-7, 225-pound Powell, and the pro scouts have said he will need more than that attribute to advance to the next level. He must adjust to playing on the wing full time and his outside shooting will require more consistency.

Since helping the Gamecocks win the National Invitation Tournament title this past season, Powell participated in the Portsmouth and Chicago pre-draft camps and showed his skills in individual tryouts with seven teams.

“(The scouts) have been encouraging,” Powell said.

Now, he waits to see if they have been convinced.

Powell more than statistics. Powell’s first athletic endeavor centered on baseball, but once he was smitten by the basketball bug, the sport received his total attention and he excelled. He averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds his senior season in high school.

However, major college recruiters stayed away. He seemed destined for Idaho before Dave Odom took over the USC program and made Powell his first Carolina recruit.

Four years later, the pros initially viewed his chances with the same skepticism.

“Some teams have realized this summer that I can play (small forward) in the pros,” Powell said. “They had seen me more as an inside player in college, but I think I have shown them my game is more.”

Powell brings more to a team than points and rebounds. Odom loved the energy and leadership he provided, and his tenaciousness on the court earned rave reviews.

“One thing about Carlos, he’s always honest,” Johnson said. “He got back from one (individual team) workout and I asked him how he had done on a scale of 1 to 10, and he figured about an 8, so that’s encouraging.

“If scouts have followed him, they will know he has improved each year. He did that in high school and at South Carolina. His best basketball is still in front of him.”

NBA ‘always a goal.’ NBA personnel evaluators discuss prospects mostly in generalities, and speculation places Powell on the “iffy” list — either picked in the second of the two rounds or an undrafted free agent.

“I have been working on what I need to do,” he said. “Playing in the NBA would be a dream come true to me; that always has been a goal.”

The work ethic has never been a problem. During his prep days in Florence, he would still be shooting in a park after the other youngsters went home to supper. At USC, he stayed in Columbia during summers to work on his skills.

“That work is paying off now,” Powell said.

His favorite team?

“Whoever signs the check,” he said and laughed.

Playing overseas remains a possibility, but he refuses to consider that route until every avenue to the NBA has been exhausted.

“I have played well enough (to make the NBA),” Powell said. “The team that gets me will be getting a player who works as hard as he can every single minute.”

That philosophy helped him average 16.4 points and 6.5 rebounds his senior year at USC, and he said he believes the same intensity has captured the attention of NBA scouts.

He will find out Tuesday night if they are convinced.