"By the way, what are your plans next?"
"Me? I've already applied to the World Basketball Academy. After I sort things out here, I'll head back to Oregon to study... Oh, what about Mr. Tinker? I promised him I'd bring you back to Oregon to meet him after this summit?"
"For now, I can only apologize to Mr. Tinker! Coach Odom here hopes I can move into Wake Forest University's international dormitory tomorrow... I'll finish up March Madness, and then I'll definitely fly to Oregon to find you and Mr. Tinker!"
"So, it's a deal?"
"It's a deal!"
After ending his conversation with John, He Ximeng returned to his room and called his mother.
When Ms. He Fengting heard that He Ximeng had tentatively decided on his target university, she was very surprised and initially worried that He Ximeng might have been scammed.
When did American universities become so easy to apply to?
According to the normal process, wouldn't it take six months to a year?
He Ximeng patiently explained to his mother Wake Forest University's current needs. He felt he had struck gold this time, with incredible luck. It just so happened that their team desperately needed a point guard who could pass, and due to the registration window, it had to be an international student...
After dispelling her doubts about him being scammed, Ms. He Fengting began to worry if Wake Forest University was a diploma mill...
Although Ms. He Fengting had researched some American universities, her primary impressions were of well-known institutions like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT, which are familiar to Chinese parents. She had genuinely not heard of the more obscure Wake Forest University.
He Ximeng patiently introduced Wake Forest University to his mother, explaining that it was founded in 1834 and was a century-old comprehensive research university, by no means a diploma mill. Furthermore, Wake Forest University was renowned for its small class sizes and elite teaching system, consistently ranking around 25th among all U.S. universities for over twenty consecutive years!
Although it was still some distance from world-class top universities like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, its ranking was higher than or equal to Tsinghua and Peking University in China!
Upon hearing that Wake Forest University's world ranking was higher than Tsinghua and Peking University, Ms. He Fengting immediately agreed!
When she further learned that Wake Forest University was willing to offer He Ximeng a full scholarship and a starting position as soon as he joined the team, she urged He Ximeng to quickly fill out the admission application, lest they "miss this opportunity."
Regarding major selection, Ms. He Fengting hoped He Ximeng would choose an engineering or science major to acquire a practical skill, so he could easily find other work if his professional basketball career failed. However, He Ximeng ultimately decided to major in psychology at Wake Forest University...
For no other reason than Tim Duncan!
Ms. He Fengting initially questioned what psychology was as a major. He Ximeng explained that studying psychology could help him better understand the mentality of his opponents on the court... And if he retired from playing, it would also be very helpful if he became a basketball coach... Hearing this, Ms. He Fengting said no more. He Ximeng's considerations were clearly well-thought-out.
In reality, these were all words to comfort his mother. He Ximeng had no intention of completing four years of university, so the choice of major was not particularly significant.
Since the major held little importance, He Ximeng simply decided to follow Duncan and see what Wake Forest University's psychology program was like...
The next morning, before the appointed time, Dave Odom drove to the international student dormitory building. He was eager to see how He Ximeng and Duncan would perform together on the court and whether they could develop good chemistry as he hoped...
He Ximeng bid farewell to John, who was still sleeping in, and got into Dave Odom's car bound for Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem!
"Tim Duncan, here I come!"
An hour later, Dave Odom's car drove directly onto the Wake Forest University campus and headed straight for the basketball arena!
It was the weekend, and according to Wake Forest University's original training schedule, there was a full team practice planned for today to prepare for the Atlantic Coast Conference divisional games starting next weekend!
Upon entering the arena, He Ximeng immediately spotted Duncan, the tallest person in the crowd!
Duncan observed this suddenly appearing, yellow-skinned point guard with his round, curious eyes!
According to head coach Dave, this yellow-skinned point guard would very likely be the team's main ball-handler in the upcoming games, responsible for passing him the ball...
"Hey, Tim, my name is Simon. You'll have to look out for me in the upcoming games..."
Duncan nodded, holding the basketball, but remained silent, a look of vigilance and caution on his face.
It seemed Duncan still had doubts about He Ximeng's abilities...
It's okay, He Ximeng's greatest strength is dispelling doubts...
After Dave Odom briefly introduced He Ximeng to all the players, the regular training for the day began.
During the training, Dave Odom naturally focused on observing He Ximeng's performance!
He Ximeng's enrollment procedures had just begun. If his training performance in the next few days was poor, Dave Odom could easily find a reason to terminate everything...
Therefore, deep down, Dave Odom might not have been without contingency plans.
When training started, Dave Odom had assumed that He Ximeng's training in China would be rudimentary. Thus, he had prepared himself mentally for He Ximeng to have many bad training habits and possibly not understand Wake Forest's training tactics...
Dave Odom had even prepared to demonstrate each training item individually to He Ximeng, accepting that two demonstrations might be needed if one wasn't enough... However, it turned out to be completely unnecessary!
He Ximeng's proficiency with these training exercises was no less than that of any other player on the team... in fact, it was even better...
After witnessing He Ximeng's skilled and solid fundamental training, Dave Odom was both surprised and delighted.
He was surprised, wondering if the training level of Chinese basketball had truly reached a point where it was fully integrated with that in the United States!
He was delighted, realizing that He Ximeng's fundamentals were far more outstanding than Dave Odom had imagined! He could truly be put on the court with very little adjustment!
"I've struck gold!" Dave Odom's heart swelled with uncontrollable joy. "Now, it remains to be seen if he can develop chemistry with Tim in actual games... Tim's reserved personality is quite tricky... But fortunately, this Simon, unlike typical Asians, is good at communicating and fluent in English..."
"Alright! Next, let's have a simple intra-squad scrimmage!"