Linsanity Page #3

I would always ask their coach,

you know,

"what can I do

to play for you?"

Yeah, I've always said,

if I was black,

I would have gotten

a d-1 scholarship,

But that's

my personal opinion.

Diepenbrock:

Well, he's an asian kid.

He's an asian kid,

and he's not 7-foot tall.

And you don't see

a lot of asian point guards

Making it

in division I basketball.

Such a simple kind of thought,

but that was the thinking.

Josh fan:
I say...

I say he's relatable.

He's one of the most

down-to-earth guys I know.

We're always joking around.

We're always, you know,

pranking on each other.

Jeremy:
Um, did you see

the blue accented stuff?

Fan:
I did see it.

You like that blue?

Yeah. I really

like that blue,

'cause when I walk in,

I don't want it to be

like black, white, black.

I want people

to be like, "dang. "

Oh, shoot, son.

Different walls

need different accents.

These are clearance.

[ laughing ]

Yeah, dang, look at that.

Look at this. 10 bucks.

I think when people

hang out with him,

They just realize

he's just...

You know, he's human.

Sounds good. All right,

see you later, bro.

Despite being named

player of the year

And winning

a state championship,

Jeremy's only offer

To play basketball

on the collegiate level

Was from a small university

Called Harvard.

Jeremy:

My first day at class,

I was

just super-intimidated.

I went and took

my math placement test,

And they were like, "if you

don't know how to do this,

Feel free to turn it in

and leave. "

I looked at it

and I was, like,

"dude, I don't know

what's going on here. "

So I turned it in,

and I was,

Like, maybe the second person

who turned it in.

I was like,

"man, I just, like,

Failed my first test

at Harvard. "

The next day, we had

the chinese placement test,

And they gave us the test,

and they're like,

"if you can't read it,

just turn it in. "

I couldn't read it,

so I turned it in again,

And that was

back-to-back failed tests

Without even

filling in an answer.

I called my mom,

I was like, "man,

This is gonna be pretty tough,

so just get ready. "

[ laughs ]

Pablo Torre:
In a lot of ways,

Jeremy Lin going to Harvard

Was a very logical thing.

There were 23 asian-americans

at Harvard

Whose last name was lin.

And so for Jeremy Lin

to show up at Harvard,

Being this asian-american kid,

Who had a perfect math

sat ii score was,

You know, nothing rare.

But the fact that he was

amazing at this game,

The question was then

how did he fit in at Harvard?

Announcer:

There is Tommy Amaker,

1987 graduate of duke,

of course,

First year at Harvard,

11th year overall

as a head coach,

180 career wins.

With the hiring of former

Michigan coach Tommy Amaker,

Harvard was committed

to a new era

In their basketball program.

Amaker was a star player

at duke university,

Then spent nine years

as an assistant coach

To the legendary

Mike Krzyzewski.

The basketball landscape

at Harvard

Was about to be transformed,

And Jeremy

was leading the charge.

Tommy Amaker:
We knew we had

something pretty interesting,

Especially with Jeremy,

Because of how hard he

worked, first of all,

And how important

basketball was to him.

And then his talent.

I think he was

very much underrated,

And I think he wanted

to play in the style

And the system, you know,

That we were

gonna implement,

Which is gonna

be high octane.

And he's a hard-charging,

Aggressive,

fearless player.

Announcer:

A steal by Jeremy lin.

He's gonna go in

for the easy jam.

Announcer 2:

Looking up ahead,

Lin splits defenders

and lays it in!

Kenny Blakeney:

In my 15 years of coaching,

My four years at duke,

I've never seen anybody

Work as diligent

and as hard as Jeremy.

He came in every day

and put the work in.

We watched film every day.

We did work

before and after practice.

He busted his tail,

And he did all the things

that we asked him to do.

Announcer:
Top of the circle,

deep 3, Jeremy Lin!

It seems the bigger the

game, the better he played.

Announcer:

It's big east basketball,

As the 13th ranked UConn huskies

host the crimson of Harvard.

Color analyst:
Now, keep

an eye on Jeremy Lin today.

This is the type

of player

That can single-handedly

help the crimson

Pull off

a miraculous upset.

Amaker:
He was the best player

on the floor.

You know,

that's saying a lot

When you're speaking

of a team

That was

the caliber of Connecticut.

Color analyst:

Wow!

Announcer:
What a move on

the runner off the glass.

Oliver McNally:
I think that's

when everybody was like,

"all right, he's more than just,

like, a good college player.

Like, he just made

a very good team look bad. "

Announcer:
Casey had it knocked

away, and a steal by Dyson.

Takes Lin to the basket,

And Lin blocks him

at the rim!

Color analyst:

What a block.

Amaker:

Scoring 30 points there,

Being a force to deal with

in every way.

Announcer:
Back to Lin top

of the key, pump fake, drives

And throws it down

with both hands!

Oh, what a dunk

by Jeremy Lin!

Amaker:
He kept us believing

all the way through

That we have a chance.

This guy's leading this team

in every category, not just one.

I mean, it wasn't like

he was just a scorer.

He was the best

defensive player,

He was the best

rebounder, the best passer.

You know, he pretty

much could do it all.

Blakeney:
It was just kind

of like those moments

Where it was crunch time

and winning time,

You know,

who's gonna step up?

Announcer:
Back the

other way, comes to Gurdy,

Into the frontcourt.

Drives down

the right lane line,

Goes up with the right hand!

Lays it in!

Three seconds left!

Harvard back the other way!

Down by a point,

Jeremy Lin!

Bumped at midcourt!

He's fouled,

but got it to go!

Harvard wins it!

Harvard wins it!

Unbelievable!

Jeremy Lin

on an unbelievable shot,

And Harvard has won

In the most

improbable fashion!

I don't believe it!

Jeremy:

When I was growing up,

I was playing

in the AAU tournaments.

We would play in games,

And a couple of times,

people would be like,

"yo, take your ass

back to china,"

Or like, "you're

a chinese import," or whatever.

When I got to college,

it just, like, got crazy.

It was just like,

"you chink!"

You know, "can you even

open your eyes?

Can you see

the scoreboard?"

You know,

just like crazy stuff.

And I'd just be like,

"dude, like, what is going on?"

Being in the spotlight

Brought Jeremy

an inevitable byproduct:

Attention,

both positive and negative.

I mean, people look at

basketball players in terms of...

Of race

a lot of times.

Basketball

is not considered

An asian sport

here in America.

We'd be playing

on the road,

Specific gyms

in the ivy league,

And they would yell

racial slurs to him.

Torre:
It was shocking to me

to see racial taunts

In the ivy league,

Because you think

that at that level,

Certainly in the supposed,

you know,

Very academically

progressively oriented

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