He's led the Harvard men's basketball team to a 15-5 start, establishing the Crimson as one of the best teams in the Ivy League. On top of that, he's got a lot riding on this season personally. If he plays his cards right, he could find himself becoming the first Harvard man to suit up in the NBA since Ed Smith in 1953.
And believe it or not, he's not even thinking about it.
"I don't have pressure," he says nonchalantly. "I just go out there and play and have fun.
"I'm not thinking about next year or the NBA or the draft or anything like that. I'm focused on what we have here. There's really no point in thinking about it at this point because I have no idea what's going to happen. I don't know what options are available. I haven't talked to anybody about it yet. The coaches and I have a deal — we're not going to talk about it until after the season. Right now it would just be speculation."
But Lin is a lot of fun to speculate about. As a senior at Harvard and a three-year starter, Lin is now in a position to make a name for himself nationally. He's a 6-foot-3 guard and the floor leader of an inspired Crimson squad, a dynamic player on both ends of the floor. Offensively, he's the ultimate combo guard. He facilitates practically every play for the Crimson — the ball runs through him, he sets up plays, he makes perfect passes with impeccable timing. Playing off the ball, he's just as dangerous — you leave him open, and you're just begging for him to knock down the outside shot.
"He's always been a guy that's finished strong for our team," said Tommy Amaker, the third-year head coach of the Crimson. "He's always been there to answer just about any call we've needed. … He's a really good player, and we've needed Jeremy all year."
Lin has averaged 17.3 points per game in his first 20 games of his senior year. He's shooting 51.7 percent, an impressive figure given that he's not an aggressive physical presence and doesn't get a lot of looks inside. But more important than his numbers, he's been a playmaker for the Crimson. He has game-changing intelligence, supreme court vision and an uncanny ability to get his teammates involved.
"He's always done that," Amaker said. "He's a winner. He tries to fight all the way through to give those young kids confidence, to stay with it, to stay after it, give them direction. That's the mark of a really good player and a captain of our team."
He's been a winner his whole life. At Harvard, he's piled up the accolades, twice being named an All-Ivy League selection and starting recently to turn the Harvard program around. In high school in Northern California, he was a superstar at Palo Alto High, lettering all four years and being named Northern California Division II Player of the Year as a senior. He's been a standout player for over a decade, starting back in his AAU days in California.
"I played at a young age," he said. "With my family, with my brothers and my dad. My AAU coach found me in fifth grade and taught me the fundamentals, and from there it just kind of grew."
He's now at the point where he can take his game to the next level. He's fought through everything imaginable to reach this point. He's battled racial stereotypes, as a lot of critics didn't think a skinny Asian-American kid had what it took to play D-I ball. He's fought hard with a Harvard team that's struggled with a lot of injuries, doing everything he can to keep them in the hunt for their first-ever Ivy League title. He's tried to drown out all the NBA speculation and focus on taking the court each day. It's been a lot to handle, but Lin has kept up.
"He's handled everything brilliantly," Amaker said. "He's as good as it gets with handling situations, and not letting things go too far in advance or getting too far behind. He's a very grounded kid, he has incredible balance about him and that's why he's in the position he's in, to do some neat things in his life. He's always handled things incredibly well, whatever situation is thrown at him. And obviously these are some really good situations that he's had to deal with."
But at the moment, Lin is focused on nothing but Harvard Crimson basketball. And as a captain this season, leading the team alongside senior teammate Doug Miller, that's his job.
"It's tough," he said. "You've got to make sure you lead by example. And I think that's what Doug and I try to focus on as co-captains. But with this group of guys, it's easy. They come ready to work, and they're very humble, especially the freshmen. It's an easy group to lead, and I'm glad I'm on the same team as them."
At the moment, that's the only thing that matters. We'll see how long that lasts.
