Yes, the basketball experts can be wrong. Just ask Jeremy Lin and Norris Cole.
Jim McIssac, NewsdayJeremy Lin's explosive emergence in the NBA was belied by the modest assessments of his talents as a California high school star, says Terry Pluto. He's hardly the only player who had problems getting attention from college coaches. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When Jeremy Lin was in high school, he led his Palo Alto team to the California state title.
His hometown was just down the street from Stanford. The 2006 championship game was played at Arco Arena in Sacramento, home of the NBA Kings. Lin's Palo Alto team upset national powerhouse Mater Dei, 51-47.
As I read about Lin scoring 17 points in that game, about his team's 32-1 record and the guard being named to the All-State team -- I kept wondering, "Why did this guy who has become a star with the Knicks end up at Harvard?"
The 4.2 grade point average had a lot to do with it, but Lin wanted to play for Stanford or another Division I program. Along with his coach, he put together a highlight DVD and sent it to more than 25 coaches. I tried to think of a coach who I knew who must have had some knowledge of Lin in high school. I called Scott Duncan, an assistant coach at Wyoming.
"Not only did I know about Jeremy, I watched him play," said Duncan, who once was an assistant at Cleveland State after playing high school basketball at Westlake and college ball at Wooster.
In 2006, Duncan was an assistant at Oregon.
"I was at the state title game because Mater Dei was projected to have as many as six Division I players," said Duncan.
Palo Alto? They started a 6-1 center. Lin was their best player. No one considered them to be big time.
"[Palo Alto] had skinny kids who looked like little leaguers next to the imposing team from Santa Ana," wrote David Kiefer of the San Jose Mercury News in his game story.
Of Lin, Kiefer wrote: "The 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior point guard has become the symbol of this improbable season, a player who always believed Palo Alto was capable of such an achievement, and seemed to will it to happen."
"That day, Jeremy was the best player on the floor," said Duncan. "Not the best college prospect, but the best player. He was this skinny kid, looked about 160 pounds. Nice player."
That's what Duncan wrote in his notes: "A nice player, supposedly headed to the Ivy League. That's the right level for him."
A unanimous, if wrong, appraisal
To be fair to Duncan, he was not alone in that assessment.
"I was one of 20 Division I coaches at that game," he said. "None of us offered Jeremy a scholarship."
Stanford and California wanted him to walk-on. Duncan mentioned that even West Coast mid-majors such as Saint Mary's, San Francisco and Loyola Marymont didn't offer him a scholarship.
Lin scored 17 in that title game, but shot 6-of-19 from the field with eight rebounds and two assists. It was a sloppy, defensive game as Mater Dei shot 29 percent. As a senior, Lin averaged 15.1 points and 7.1 assists. His team was about defense, which is why those relatively modest numbers didn't prevent Lin from being named the San Francisco-area high school Player of the Year.
Recruiting service Rivals.com gave him zero stars.
Lin's Ivy League career began slowly as he averaged 4.2 points as a freshman, before becoming a starter for his final three seasons. Then he went undrafted by the NBA, was cut by Golden State and Houston before finally given a chance by the guard-desperate Knicks.
"The fact is, we do miss players," said Duncan.
He mentioned how Reverve's Larry Nance Jr. was lightly recruited despite being the son of a Cavs star and having a strong senior season. He is the sixth man for Wyoming's 18-8 team as a freshman. Only a few other schools such as James Madison showed an interest in the 6-8 forward.
The Cole Story
Michael Conroy, Associated PressNorris Cole also took the less-traveled road to the NBA, with only NAIA Walsh University interested in him out of Dayton Dunbar before Cleveland State offered a scholarship late in Cole's senior year. Then there's Norris Cole, the former Cleveland State star and sixth man with the Miami Heat.
"Norris was ready to play for us," said Jeff Young, coach at Walsh University in North Canton.
Just like Lin, Cole was no secret. He was the starting point guard for Dayton Dunbar's state title team. College coaches watched him for a few years in big games against major competition. They were more interested in his Dunbar teammate, 6-foot-9 Aaron Pogue (now with Cleveland State).
"Norris signed with us in December of his senior year," said Young. "He had no other real offers. I couldn't figure it out. He had good grades. He came a great family. Played quarterback, a real leader. I heard some Division I coaches saying they didn't know if he was a point guard or a shooting guard."
Young has a 220-44 record at Walsh, including 22-5 this year. He sustains that success by finding good players, not worrying about what positions they play.
"I just knew Norris was a very good guard," said Young. "I told him that because we were NAIA, if he received a Division I offer, we'd let him out of his scholarship."
As a senior, Cole led his team in scoring (15.5), shooting 49 percent and averaging 4.3 assists. He was in the National Honor Society. He played on two state title winning teams with a 50-6 record in his final two years at Dunbar. Young said Wright State showed some interest in Cole, but not enough to offer a scholarship.
"After the season, Gary [Waters] offered Norris," said Young. "We lost him, and look what he's done since."
The 6-foot Cole averaged only 4.9 points as a Cleveland State freshman, but then started the next three years. Like Lin, he was not an instant success in college. As a senior, he was the Horizon League Player of the Year. Miami obtained him in a draft-day trade after he was the 28th pick. He now averages 8.6 points for the Heat.
Like Lin, he has surprised a lot of basketball people -- and has been doing it for a long time.