However, that has not necessarily occurred yet among some spectators. Lin and others say it is not uncommon for him to be taunted for his ethnicity during road games, with shouts like, “Orchestra is on the other side of campus” and “Open your eyes.”
Lin takes it in stride, having heard such remarks ever since he was old enough to hold a basketball. But Amaker is more blunt, saying, “He has heard awful things, and there's no place for that kind of mean-spirited behavior.”
Back in high school, Lin led his northern California team to a state championship by upsetting a nationally ranked opponent in the finals. He compiled career highlight tapes that he sent, along with his academic transcript, to various universities on the West Coast and elsewhere. No one singled out his ethnicity out loud, he says, but no school offered a basketball scholarship or guaranteed him playing time either. As policy, Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships.
More recently, Lin was the only Division I player in the country this past season to rank among the top 10 players in his conference in every statistical category, such as field goal percentage, steals, and blocked shots, to name a few. Lin, who will co-captain the Crimson next season, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches all-district team and was Harvard's MVP for the second year.
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