In his senior year in 2005???2006, Lin captained Palo Alto High School to a 32???1 record and upset nationally ranked Mater Dei , 51???47, for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division II state title. He was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year ending his senior year with 15.1 points, 7.1 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 5.0 steals.

Recruiting process

Lin sent his resume and a DVD of highlights to all the Ivy League schools, Cal , Stanford , and his dream school, UCLA . Lin chose to attend Harvard.

Joe Lacob, incoming Warriors' owner and Stanford booster , said Stanford's failure to recruit Lin "was really stupid. The kid was right across the street. You can???t recognize that, you???ve got a problem."

Kerry Keating, the UCLA assistant who offered Lin the opportunity to walk-on, would say in hindsight that Lin would probably have ended up starting at point guard for UCLA.

Rex Walters, University of San Francisco men's basketball coach and a retired NBA player, said NCAA limits on coaches??? recruiting visits impacted Lin. ???Most colleges start recruiting a guy in the first five minutes they see him because he runs really fast, jumps really high, does the quick, easy thing to evaluate," Walters said. Lin added, ???I just think in order for someone to understand my game, they have to watch me more than once, because I???m not going to do anything that???s extra flashy or freakishly athletic."

Bill Holden, Harvard assistant coach, had initially told Lin's high school coach, Peter Diepenbrock, that Harvard was not interested in Lin. "Three weeks later, he calls me and says, 'I may have spoken a little too soon,'" Diepenbrock said.

Harvard

In his sophomore season (2007???08), Lin averaged 12.6 points and was named All-Ivy League Second Team.

By his junior year during the 2008???09 season , he was the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502), free throw percentage (0.744), and 3 point shot percentage (0.400),

In his senior year (2009???10), Lin averaged 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.1 blocks, and was again a unanimous selection for All-Ivy League First Team. He was one of 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award and one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award. He was also invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Fran Fraschilla of ESPN picked Lin among the 12 most versatile players in college basketball. He gained national attention for his performance against the 12th ranked Connecticut Huskies, against whom he scored a career-high tying 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds on the road. After the game, Hall of Fame Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said of Lin:

"I've seen a lot of teams come through here, and he could play for any of them. He's got great, great composure on the court. He knows how to play."

For the season, Harvard set numerous program records including wins (21), non-conference wins (11), home wins (11) and road/neutral wins (10).

Lin finished his career as the first player in the history of the Ivy League to record at least 1,450 points (1,483), 450 rebounds (487), 400 assists (406) and 200 steals (225).

He graduated from Harvard with a degree in economics and a 3.1 grade-point average .

Undrafted

If drafted, Lin would have been the first Ivy Leaguer selected by the NBA since Jerome Allen of Pennsylvania in the second round in 1995 . The last Ivy Leaguer to play in the NBA was Yale's Chris Dudley in , while the last Harvard player in the league was Ed Smith in .

He later joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini-camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas. Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only General Manager that offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League. "Donnie took care of me," said Lin. "He has a different type of vision than most people do."

In five Summer League games, while playing both guard positions, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in 18.6 minutes per game and shot a team leading 54.5% from the floor. Lin turned heads in his matchup against first overall pick John Wall when Lin scored 13 points to Wall's 21, but did so on 6-for-12 shooting in 28 minutes. Wall was 4-for-19 in 33 minutes.

While Wall received the biggest cheer for any player during introductions, the crowd had turned on Wall and was cheering for Lin by the end of the game.

Lin received offers to sign from the Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and an unnamed Eastern Conference team. The Golden State Warriors would also offer Lin a contract in addition to the original three teams.

Golden State Warriors

On July 21, 2010, Lin signed a two-year deal with his hometown Warriors, his favorite team growing up. Lin's deal is partially guaranteed for 2010, and the Warriors hold a team option for the second season. The reports noted that the deal would include a first-year salary of close to $500,000 with more than half of it guaranteed. Lacob had made the decision to sign Lin. Lin said the counteroffers from the three other teams were higher, but he wanted to come home and play for the Warriors.

Lin also signed a three-year guaranteed contract with Nike . His jersey was already on sale before his first NBA game.

On October 8 in the Warriors' exhibition opener at their home in Oracle Arena, the loudest ovation of the night from the crowd of 10,004 was for Lin when he entered the game with 10:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. The crowd started chanting for Lin in the third quarter. They cheered whenever he touched the ball. "That really touched me. It's something I'll remember forever," Lin said. He ended up with seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 11 minutes. Warriors' head coach Keith Smart says Lin draws the crowd's attention on the road as well. Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com attributes the attention Lin had received out of town to the unique angle of "an Asian-American rising to rare basketball prominence"

Lin notices the expectations that follow him. "I've got news for them," Lin said with a smile, "I won't be an All-Star this year."

The attention Lin has received is tricky for him. While he would prefer to be able to just concentrate on his play without all the attention, he is appreciative of the unbelievable support he has received, especially from the Asian-American community. Lin wants to be a role model to young Asian-Americans. He has found the attention awkward as he says he has not "proven anything to anybody."

Frank Hughes of Sports Illustrated wrote that Lin talks with the occasional "seeds of self-doubt" which is not common to hear in the NBA. Hughes also found it rare when Lin compared himself to Phoenix Suns' backup point guard Goran Dragi??. ???Neither of us is a freak athlete, but we???re both effective and know how to play the game,??? Lin said.

Lin and Stephen Curry , 2009???10 runner-up Rookie of the Year and a gold medal winner in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, get more interview requests than any Warrior. Team officials regularly deny requests for Lin to help him keep his focus. He has been approached to be the subject of documentaries.

Smart planned to take pressure off Lin since Lin has a tendency to be hard on himself and get frustrated.

Lin made the Warriors' opening day roster for the 2010???11 regular season , but he was placed on the inactive list . While he was disappointed, Lin noted that "part of being on this team is putting your ego aside." Lin made his official NBA debut in the next game against the Los Angeles Clippers. It was Asian Heritage Night for the Warriors' home game, and Lin received a standing ovation from the crowd of 17,408 when he entered the game with 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. He did not score in the 109???91 win but recorded one steal after tying up the ball and winning the subsequent jump ball.

In the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin scored his first NBA basket, had three assists, and recorded four steals. He was applauded by the road crowd at Staples Center when he entered the game in the third quarter. He played 11 of his 16 minutes in the third quarter and commited five fouls but played a role in a 12-1 run by the Warriors.

Similar to the exhibition home opener, Oracle Arena fans continued to root for Lin to play in the end of games and cheered every time he touched the ball. "When I'm on the road, I don't feel like the spotlight is on me," Lin admitted. Smart noted that Lin looked more relaxed on the road. "There's a lot of pressure on him at home, with all of the applause for just checking into the game, so I'm sure that cranks his nerves up a little bit," said Curry. "You can tell on the road he plays a lot better, because he can just go out there, play and have fun."

At Toronto on November 8, the Raptors held Asian Heritage Night to coincide with Lin's visit with the Warriors. Over 20 members of Toronto's Chinese media covered the game. Lin played 15 minutes, most coming in the first half, and finished with three points, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the 109???102 Warriors' win. In the following game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Lin again entered the game in the first half. According to ESPN.com NBA editor Matt Wong, "Lin checked into the game to loud applause, presumably from the many Asian-Americans in attendance." He had scored seven total points in his first six games played during the year. In a 89-117 road loss to the Lakers, Lin scored a career-high 13 points in 18 minutes and again earned big cheers from fans in Los Angeles.

On December 28, 2010, Lin was assigned to the Warriors' D-League affiliate, the Reno Bighorns. He was recalled on January 3, 2011, but re-assigned on January 9, 2011 He competed in the NBA D-League showcase and was named to the All-NBA D-League Showcase First Team on January 14, 2011. He helped lead the Reno Bighorns to a 2-0 record at the Showcase with averages of 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals. Jeremy Lin had acknowledged he had some misgivings when being sent to the D-League because he felt he was being demoted and was not good enough to play in the NBA. But after playing in the D-League, he realized he was still learning and putting in work and getting playing time in the D-League, which he wouldn't have received at the time with the Warriors.

Lin has been invited by Chinese Taipei, which is the designated name used by the Republic of China (Taiwan) in international events, to play for their men's national basketball team in FIBA competitions. On July 28, 2010 while in Taipei to play in Yao Ming's charity game, Lin said he had not made a decision yet on whether he would represent Chinese Taipei.

Sean Gregory of Time wrote of Lin's zero Division I scholarship offers: " Lin was scrawny, but don't doubt that a little racial profiling, intentional or otherwise, contributed to his underrecruitment."

Lin's high school coach, Peter Diepenbrock, said that people without meaning any harm assume since Lin is Asian that he is not a basketball player. The first time Lin went to a Pro-Am game in Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, his coach said, someone there informed him: "Sorry, sir, there's no volleyball here tonight. It's basketball." During Lin's college career, fewer than 0.5% of men's Division 1 basketball players were Asian-American.

Lin has regularly heard bigoted jeers at games such as " Wonton soup", " Sweet and sour pork", "Open your eyes!", "Go back to China", "Orchestra is on the other side of campus", or Chinese gibberish. According to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, a fellow Ivy League player once called Lin a " chink".

In January 2010, Harvard played against Santa Clara University at the Leavey Center, just 15 miles from his hometown of Palo Alto, California. Playing to a capacity crowd that included droves of Asian Americans wanting to see his homecoming, his teammates told him, "It was like Hong Kong."

Lin considers himself a basketball player more than an Asian American. He understands that there are not many Asians in the NBA. "Maybe I can help break the stereotype," said Lin. Asian Americans who have played in the NBA prior to the 2010???11 NBA season include Wataru Misaka, Raymond Townsend, Corey Gaines, Rex Walters, and Robert Swift. Lin is setting an example for prospective Asian athletes in America who rarely see Asian-Americans playing on their favorite teams. "I don't look Japanese," Walters said, referring to his mother's ethnicity. "When they see Lin, it's an Asian-American.

Larry Riley, the Warriors' general manager, denied that Lin???s signing was done to cater to the Bay Area ???s large Asian population. He understood that some people would look at it that way. ???We evaluated him throughout summer league," Riley said. ???All that had to happen was for him to confirm what we already believed." While the team was creating a campaign around him, Riley said it would not have been advisable if Lin was not a basketball player first.

Lin grew up in Palo Alto, California. Gie-Ming taught his sons to play basketball at the local YMCA.

• The Faith and Fate of Jeremy Lin at Patheos ??? part 1

• Jeremy Lin ??? Faith and Ethnicity at Patheos ??? part 2

• Harvard Basketball Takes Off on InterVarsity.org (from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship)

• Jeremy Lin: Taking Harvard basketball to new levels ??? Student Soul interview with Jeremy

• Jeremy Lin at Ivy League Basketball News ??? Jeremy Lin videos & news clips at Ivybbn.com

• Jeremy Lin Official Site

• Jeremy Lin Info Page at NBA.com

• Jeremy Lin 2010 Draft Prospect Profile at NBA.com