Guard Jamal Shead, after lighting it up for the University of Houston, is officially punching his ticket to the Great White North. Shead was picked by the Sacramento Kings with the No. 45 overall selection, but will don the Toronto Raptors jersey instead as part of a pre-arranged trade in exchange for Jalen McDaniels. This was reported, as his dreams to play in the big league to be realized, by Click2Houston.

During his time at UH, Shead built quite the résumé. You might say he's a defender's nightmare—garnering titles such as the Big 12 Player of the Year and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, all the while dropping an average of 12.9 points and dishing out 6.3 assists. But his impact wasn't to just rack up the personal accolades; he also pushed the Cougars to a Sweet 16 berth for the fifth consecutive time. As he prepared to take his game to the next level, Shead set out to clearly show “Play hard, play defense, and I just get after it. That’s nothing new because of coach (Kelvin) Sampson. You hear the truth for four years, and you stay here for all four,” according to what he told reporters in a June pre-draft workout covered by the Houston Chronicle.

ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony piped in with high praise for the latest Raptors recruit, dubbing him "the best full-court defender in this class, bringing nonstop intensity and toughness … smothering opponents with ball pressure, fighting over screens and generating turnovers in bunches.” Shead is now part of a narrative that, over the past eight years, has seen five UH players get drafted into the NBA, as put into context by the Houston Chronicle.

As Shead gears up to join a Raptors team in the midst of a rebuild, eyes will be trained on how he meshes with the squad under the guidance of second-year coach Darko Rajaković. With the team having secured additional talent in this year’s draft including Ja’Kobe Walter and Jonathan Mogbo, fans are hopeful the fresh blood will invigorate the Raptors' roster. UH coach Kelvin Sampson didn't fail to express his pride on social media for his former protégé, affirming the family-like atmosphere within the program and celebrating the dedication of his staff, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. The expectation within the Toronto camp is high to see whether Shead can quickly continue to evolve into an NBA-caliber player and start contributing to the franchise’s future success.