VILLANOVA, Pa. - Lonnie Diggs stood on the practice court at the Davis Center, searching for the proper word. Behind him, tenth graders from his Chester Charter Schools Academy mixed it up with the Villanova Men's Basketball team. Invited for an exclusive event by the Friends of Nova, the high schoolers toured the facilities and sat down for quiet chats with the Wildcats over dinner.
 
They were understandably wide eyed, snapping pictures of the championship trophies and  Final Four floors in Finneran Pavilion. It wasn't, however, the shiny symbols of success that struck Diggs and sent him searching for the proper word.  It was watching one of his former players, now clad in a Villanova polo shirt, playing a little one-on-one with his current students. Not too long ago, Wooga Poplar was one of them, a kid from Philadelphia searching for his future. Now he was showing them the way.
 
"Inspirational,'' Diggs said, finally coming around to the word to explain what he was witnessing. "That's what this is. For them to see Wooga, someone who shares their background, it tells them anything is possible.''

Poplar has settled in quite nicely as a Wildcat, averaging 19.0 points per outing over his last five games, including scoring his 1000th career point Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. He also leads Villanova in rebounding at 6.6 rpg.. The senior guard and the Wildcats (11-6 overall, 4-2 BIG EAST) will face another BIG EAST road challenge Tuesday night, when they meet Xavier (10-7 overall, 2-4 BIG EAST) at the Cintas Center at 6:30 p.m (FS1 and the Villanova Sports Radio Network on IHeart).
 
In a youth sports world gone mad with single-sport concentration, Poplar is something of an anomaly. He didn't play organized basketball until the tenth grade. He frequented the playgrounds and area rec centers to ball with his buddies – they worked on their handle; he spotted up in the corner to shoot – but as a youngster, his first love was baseball and his longtime passion was dirt biking. When he wasn't pitching or playing shortstop, Poplar was riding around with his pals on his motor bike. "It was just fun,'' he says. "We'd ride around all over the place.''
 
He gave up baseball in the eighth grade but still didn't naturally gravitate to hoops. He tried it as a freshman at Bishop McDevitt High School. "But we didn't touch a ball for like the first four weeks,'' he says. "I definitely didn't like it enough for that.'' Not until he transferred to Math, Civics and Science Charter School, where Diggs was coaching, did Poplar give it serious consideration. Diggs spying his lanky frame suggested he try out for the team. Because of his lack of experience, Poplar was slated for the junior varsity. He dropped 30 in his first game, prompting a quick reassignment to varsity. In his first game there, he came off the bench for 19.
 
All of that playground shooting paid off. It took Poplar only two seasons to top the 1,000-point threshold and by the time he graduated he earned three all-state selections, player of the year honors, and a state championship and a scholarship. Doors Poplar never would have considered entering started to open, including a scholarship to Miami. 
 
But the pull of the dirt bike continued. It was uncomplicated at a time when life got a little complicated and though his parents suggested he park it, Poplar sheepishly admits he didn't quite heed their advice.
 
In between summer session and the start of his freshman season at Miami, Poplar took a spill on the streets. He leans over to show the evidence, pointing to a bump and visible scar on the right side of his forehead and turning over his right forearm to explain how he singed the skin there. He had no choice but to tell his parents. Someone had to take him to get the 16 stitches required to close the gash.  But upon returning to Miami, he tried to hide it from the Miami coaching staff. For the first weeks on campus, he turned his body every time he fell into conversation, attempting to position himself so that they only saw him from the left side. It was laughably inadequate, especially as time wore on. "You know how when a scar starts to heal your skin kind of turns white?" he says with a smile. "Yeah. They noticed that.''
 
Needless to say, it marked the end of his dirt biking career.
 
Forgiven his early transgression, Poplar continued to grow as a basketball player in his three years at Miami. He gradually upped his playing time as well as his production, going from a 2.3 points per game scorer to 13.4.  Along the way he learned to even like basketball, though he admits that, at times, the pressure to succeed sometimes robbed him of that joy.
 
That's why, after entering the portal at the end of his junior season, transferring to Villanova made so much sense. It's home.
 
Here he can reconnect with his family, not to mention his community, and it's galvanized his excitement with basketball. A good scorer since those early playground days, he now takes pride in defense. He sits at the top of the Wildcats' 1-2-2 press, there to disrupt opponents out of their rhythm. "I love playing defense,'' he says. "Why? Because I don't want anybody to score on me. Who would? Why would you ever want that?"
 
Because he came late to basketball, Poplar didn't have a role model to look up to. Now given the chance to be the mentor, he is embracing it. He hosted a clinic this summer in his neighborhood, and happily welcomed his old coach to his new stomping grounds.  "I wanted to be able to show my current process and where I'm going to younger kids who hope to do this someday,'' he says. "They could see what it's like to play here, and what you can do if you put your mind to it. It felt great.''
 
Even more, it was inspirational.