Nathan Lui
Then-senior captain Jeremy Lin reacts after the Vikings' 51-47 win over Mater Dei.
Linsanity.
The outburst of attention focused on Palo Alto High School’s own Jeremy Lin has flooded Facebook, Twitter and the entire national media. The renewed Jeremy-Lin-craze on campus is unmistakable.
From the nightly, torrential flow of statuses on Facebook to trending worldwide on Twitter, it is difficult to avoid what is quickly becoming an international sensation.
We know the story by now. Lin graduated from Paly in 2006 after leading the Vikings to our second state title in basketball against heavily favored Mater Dei High School, but did not receive due recognition.
Still didn’t receive a Division I scholarship. Rejected by our neighbor across the street, Stanford, accepted at Harvard. Undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft, signed by our hometown Golden State Warriors after an amazing summer league performance against the No. 1 pick in the draft, John Wall. Waived for cap space to sign DeAndre Jordan (whom the Warriors failed to sign), picked up by the Houston Rockets, waived again. Signed by the New York Knicks, sent to the NBA Development League, brought back up.
The rest is history. After a breakout week leading the Knicks to five straight victories, scoring 20 or more points in each of them, Lin is now the center of attention.
Across Paly, Lin is viewed as a role model who successfully juggled his love of basketball with the strenuous load of academic achievement. He achieved on both ends of the spectrum, a challenge which many students struggle with every day.
“I think he shows that you can be an all-around individual and still be a professional athlete as well,” librarian Rachel Kellerman said. “He was a very good student here, went to college and stayed all four years, yet he never lost his dream of playing basketball."
Senior Emilee Osagiede, captain of the girls’ basketball team, echoed Kellerman’s praise and attributed Lin’s success to his unwavering determination.
“Jeremy Lin is a great influence because he shows how hard work pays off even when other people don’t notice it,” Osagiede said. “It's also amazing how he was able to use education to get to college and was drafted from Harvard, which isn't a big basketball powerhouse.”
Of course, Lin resonates with the current boys’ basketball team as well. It’s all too easy to draw the parallels between Lin and senior point guard Alec Wong, an Asian-American playing the same position that Lin did during his time at Paly. Wong is currently the captian of the team as well.
“There is definitely a stereotype against Asian basketball players even if it is not directly spoken,” Wong said. “You step onto the court with something to prove. They don’t expect you to be the player that you are, and you want to show them that you are on the court for your talent. Jeremy's success is definitely exciting to me; he has opened a lot of eyes for a lot of people. He has shown that the game can be played by anyone, from anywhere.”
Other team members are inspired that Lin has been able to make it to the NBA despite an underdog label that stuck with him his entire career.
“Jeremy has just also shown that you don’t need to be a nationally ranked All-American to make it big or go to this nationally ranked school,” junior forward E.J. Floreal said. “He’s just shown me that hard work is all you need, and just to believe in yourself.”
Lin’s success has quantified the personal hope that he would succeed in the NBA to current physical education teacher Peter Diepenbrock, his high school coach when the Vikings won the state championship. Still, Diepenbrock did not expect this level of success for Lin.
“I had hope that he would have a real opportunity with the Knicks,” Diepenbrock said. “I don't think he got as good of an opportunity that he could have with the Warriors last year. I was just trying to hold out hope that they would find out what he could do. I would never tell anybody that this was what I expected.”
Athletics aside, another area where Lin stands out is his continued expression of his Christian faith in the face of a national audience. After each game, when interviewed, Lin makes it a point to thank God for his accomplishments and humbly praise his teammates.
“It's truly amazing how he applies the principles of his faith even in the midst of such accomplishment,” Paly Christian Club leader Toby Lee said. "I think he acts as a great role model that we Christians and the Paly community at large ought to think about, especially where his humility is concerned.”
Across campus, people are holding their heads up higher, genuinely excited for somebody who has made it against all odds.
“There is a collective pride that one of our own has made it,” Diepenbrock said. “He's raised people's spirits, like when the Giants won the World Series. He's made everyone a little happier.”
For Paly, Lin’s success is more than just his ethnicity, faith or legacy: it is a source for enduring enthusiasm, hope and inspiration. Here in Palo Alto, we will continue cheering him on.
