Lin’s Hoop Dreams Lead Him to Portsmouth Invitational

While many Harvard seniors have been scrambling to find a job for next year, one member of the class of 2010 will be determining his future in a far different fashion—on the hardwood.

Men’s basketball co-captain Jeremy Lin is currently taking part in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, which began yesterday and will continue through Saturday.

Held annually in Portsmouth, Va., the 12-game showcase provides 64 invited college seniors—most of whom are not projected as first-round draft picks—the opportunity to be evaluated by professional scouts.

At stake for Lin, a member of the eight-player Tidewater Sealants, will be the chance to improve his shot at playing in the NBA or overseas next season.

Joining Lin in the Sealant backcourt will be Aubrey Coleman of Houston, a shooting guard who led all Division I players in scoring, and Arizona point guard Nic Wise.

Tennessee’s Wayne Chism and Omar Samhan of St. Mary’s will also be looking to prove themselves at Portsmouth. Last year, six tournament players were drafted to the NBA.

Currently projected by ESPN as a being either a second-round selection or going undrafted, Lin is determined to play at the next level.

“I’m pretty sure I want to play basketball for at least one year and see where that takes me,” Lin said.

Following the end of Harvard’s season three weeks ago, Lin took less than a week off before beginning individual workouts with assistant coach Kenny Blakeney.

After playing a combination guard role for the Crimson—both as his team’s primary scoring threat and playmaker—Lin has realized that he will have to move to point guard to continue his career.

“I think that’s going to be more natural for me, because I’m a little undersized for a two-guard,” Lin said of making the switch, which he acknowledges will not be easy.

“Four years is a long time for not being a point guard. It’s going to be a long process. I don’t know how hard it will be, but I will find out very soon.”

Jonathan Givony, president of DraftExpress.com, agreed that Lin will be more suited to the point in the pros.

“He is more attractive, at six-foot-three, as a point guard,” Givony said. “Showing playmaking skills, showing that he can run a team and make other people better—that’s definitely not going to hurt him.”

Portsmouth will be invaluable for Lin to display his skills against quality opponents.

“This is a good opportunity for him,” Givony said. “We have a pretty good feeling that he could have played at any level of college basketball, but the fact that he was in the Ivy League—not really going up against NBA-caliber athletes on a game-by-game basis—makes this a good setting for him to show that he can translate his game to a higher level of competition. For him, there’s a lot to prove here.”

Cornell seniors Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote will also be attempting to raise their own stock at Portsmouth. While Wittman has signed with an agent and Foote is looking to do so as well, Lin is in the process of finding an agent but has not found one yet.

“That would be a safe bet to make,” Givony said of the trio possibly playing in Europe next year, but he held off on assessing the NBA chances of the Ivy’s top seniors.

“I’ll have a much better opinion in four days,” Givony said. “This is why we’re going out there, to figure this question out. I don’t know that we have a definite answer at this point.”

Two of Lin’s teammates from last year’s Crimson squad—Drew Housman and Evan Harris—are currently playing in Israel and Germany, respectively.

“He could absolutely play at a lot of places,” Harris said of Lin’s prospects.

The Harvard standout received much attention from both national media and NBA scouts throughout the year, leading many to speculate on Lin’s potential as a professional player.

But Lin’s performance dipped as the 29-game season’s grind wore on, and the senior ended his collegiate career with a pair of lackluster performances at Princeton and at Appalachian State.

“I’m a lot more rested now, and I have my legs underneath me. I’m a much different player now than I was at the end of the season,” Lin said.

As classmates seal their fates for the next year and beyond, the senior remains hopeful and humble.

“I’m lucky, because I’m going to be doing what I love doing, which is playing basketball,” Lin said. “I feel like I’m really blessed. I haven’t applied to a single job, or done any interviews, and I’m very thankful for that…I’m very fortunate to be where I’m at.”

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.