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Jakob Poeltl's basketball career crossed another border on Friday as the former Ute travelled to his new home in Toronto.

Meeting with the hometown media for the first timehttp://bit.ly/28ReagE";> since being picked No. 9 overall on Thursday night, Poeltl said the things every NBA draft pick says about their new team — but his smile reflected a very genuine sense of relief.

"I'm happy to be here in Toronto," he said. "This process was fun, but I'm also kind of glad that it's over."

Less than 24 hours after the Raptors made him their first overall pick, Poeltl fielded questions about his status http://www.cbc.ca/sports/basketball/nba/who-is-raptors-draft-pick-jakob-poeltl-1.3651949";>as an Austrian pioneer, reuniting with former teammate Delon Wright and dropping 27 points on new teammate Jonas Valanciunas last summer in international play.

Some tidbits:

• He talked about how being the ballboy for his parents' volleyball games helped get him into sports.

• Asked for an NBA comparison, he said he thinks he can play like Pau Gasol.

• General manager Masai Ujiri said Poeltl's athleticism and desire makes him a prospect that he wanted to "run and hug him and take him and run."

Check out the video above.

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon