He started on a Final Four team. He is a licensed Pentecostal minister. He has his college degree. He was National Honor Society, homecoming king and even starred in musicals at Joliet High in his native Illinois.

But what defines Roger Powell Jr. perhaps more than all of that, and what makes it likely he'll be on the Jazz's full opening-night roster for this week's start of the 2006-07 NBA season, is something much more nondescript.

"He's always been a hard worker," said Deron Williams, Powell's teammate on the 2005 University of Illinois NCAA title-game team. "That's what people love about him — and I don't think he'll ever stop doing that.

"He's pretty much got that part figured out," added Williams, the Jazz's starting point guard. "Just working on the rest of the game is what he's doing now."

Honing game is also something Powell — barring an unforeseen surprise when final roster cuts are made today — will have time to do in Utah for at least a while.

"Guys that are gonna work hard — it's hard for me to close my eyes to them," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said.

Though undrafted and not in the NBA as a pro rookie last season, Powell came to Jazz camp with an edge.

His minimum-pay, $412,718 contract is not fully guaranteed. However, $125,000 is guaranteed. For that reason, among others, the Jazz have been inclined all along to take an extended look at their relative pocket-change investment.

Not that money matters have bogged Powell's mind as he's spent October trying to prove long-term worth.

"You can't consider that, because the last thing you want to do is be complacent — and that's something I never want to do in my career," he said. "So, I didn't really think about it — I just thought I would come in and have to earn everything."

Powell went to Seattle's camp in 2005, but the son of former Illinois State basketball star Roger Powell spent the 2005-06 season earning CBA Rookie of the Year honors with the minor-league Rockford (Ill.) Lightning.

Trying times ultimately proved rewarding for the married 23-year-old.

"He got a chance to play a lot, whereas if he would have come to the NBA he probably would have sat behind a couple people," Williams said. "I think it made him hungrier. You're getting paid next-to-nothing in the CBA, and it makes you realize how lucky we are to be in the NBA."

Powell concurs, to a degree.

"It made me hungry," he said, "but it made me appreciate guys who come from the minor leagues ... (They) play for less pay and keep following their dream."