The first call He Ximeng made was, of course, to inform his mother that he and the team had successfully won the NCAA championship!
Upon receiving the good news, Ms. He Fengting was happy, but then she added, "After the game is over, you should go back to school and study hard..."
"Study hard?" He Ximeng immediately understood that his mother had no idea of the status of an NCAA championship in North America! In her mind, perhaps the NCAA was equivalent to China's CUBA. Winning the championship was indeed not easy, but it wasn't enough to make her ecstatic! This was because she didn't know He Ximeng's role on the team. What important role could a freshman who had just joined the team play? Perhaps it was because the Wake Forest University team itself was already championship-caliber?
He Ximeng decided not to tell his mother the full truth for now, but to prepare her for a possible trip to the United States at the end of June. He had a contract to sign, and she, as his guardian, needed to be present...
Yes, He Ximeng was not yet 18 years old. If he participated in the draft, he would need his guardian present to finalize the signing with a team...
At the same time, participating in the draft meant He Ximeng had to drop out of Wake Forest University... When his mother learned that her son, whom she had painstakingly gotten into a prestigious North American university, was considering dropping out after less than three months...
He Ximeng decided to keep this fact from his mother for the time being. He would attend tryouts with various teams first and only tell her when things regarding the draft became clearer, to avoid her unnecessary worry...
After ending the call with his mother, He Ximeng made his second call to Zhang Zhenpeng.
He Ximeng asked Zhang Zhenpeng to help inform Cui Tianci and his other friends back home about his NCAA championship win, as the others did not have international phone lines...
Zhang Zhenpeng was so shocked to hear that He Ximeng had led Wake Forest University to the NCAA championship that he almost dropped his jaw!
"Are you sure it's the NCAA Championship, not just the league championship or a divisional championship?"
"Nonsense! March Madness is over, how could I possibly confuse the league, divisional, and championship titles? I won't talk much more, my teammates are calling me to celebrate..."
"Whose phone? Whose phone? Is it Ximeng's?" Zhang Tian'ai, who was in the next room, rushed over and snatched the phone from Zhang Zhenpeng's hand. However, only the busy signal could be heard from the other end.
"Ximeng won the NCAA championship!"
"Damn it! Why didn't you make him wait? I have so much to say to him... Huh? Wait a minute, you said Ximeng won what championship again?"
"NCAA Championship, the national championship!"
Zhang Tian'ai was also stunned! Having lived abroad, they both knew what an NCAA championship meant in the United States. It was absolute celebrity status on campus...
"It's over, it's over! With this, countless people will be throwing themselves at him... I need to finish my TOEFL exam quickly and apply to Wake Forest in North Carolina... If I'm late, it'll be too late..."
After informing his friends back home, He Ximeng picked up the phone again and made his third call!
This call was to John from the basketball academy.
"Unbelievable! You actually won the NCAA Championship so quickly! Do you know, many NBA players play four years of NCAA and never even touch the championship trophy... Your luck is simply through the roof..."
"Just average, third in the world!"
"Now, not only is Mr. Tinker interested in you, but Mr. Clark, the head of the operations department, also specifically asked to meet you! I suspect he might want to ask if you have any plans to pursue a professional basketball career!"
"Professional player? Of course, my next goal is to prepare for the draft..."
"Excellent! Then I suggest you come to Oregon. We can take care of both matters together..."
"Which two matters?"
"I'm not sure about Mr. Tinker's matter, but regarding Mr. Clark, I know it's likely to discuss a shoe endorsement deal..."
A shoe endorsement with Nike? He Ximeng never expected to become a Nike endorser one day...
The next day, as the entire Wake Forest team prepared to return to North Carolina, He Ximeng requested leave from head coach Dave Odom to travel to Oregon.
Dave Odom was initially reluctant to grant the leave, worried that the players, having just won the championship, might not be able to control their emotions and get into trouble outside.
The NCAA was never short of talented players whose professional basketball careers were cut short by accidents. Moreover, Dave Odom intended to have a serious talk with He Ximeng about the team's championship victory. He had already spoken to Duncan, but Duncan played dumb, claiming he just followed the team's tactics and said nothing else...
As the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in this year's NCAA Championship and a member of the All-American team, Dave Odom couldn't really do anything if Duncan refused to talk. If Duncan was truly pushed, he could directly declare for the draft, and Dave Odom could only offer his blessings...
Since Duncan was a dead end, Dave Odom decided to approach He Ximeng. After all, many of the team's tactics were communicated to other players by He Ximeng, the point guard... In fact, Dave Odom's initial approach to Duncan was because he suspected that Duncan's various changes stemmed from this seemingly ordinary, yet exceptionally mysterious Chinese player...
As a result, He Ximeng directly produced Mr. Tinker's invitation letter!
This was an invitation letter that John had obtained from Mr. Tinker when he requested a letter of recommendation. Tinker had originally intended for He Ximeng to visit the Nike headquarters two months earlier, but it was delayed until now.
Dave Odom naturally knew who Tinker was, the chief designer of Nike and the creator of the Jordan series, someone known to everyone in the basketball world.
What baffled Dave Odom was how He Ximeng had gotten involved with Mr. Tinker.
Tinker's temper was famously bad in the basketball circle. Many people wanted to connect with him, but few truly earned his trust...
Regardless of the nature of their relationship, Dave Odom had no choice but to approve the leave. However, Dave Odom had also thought it through: after meeting Tinker, wouldn't He Ximeng return to Wake Forest University? If he played for Wake Forest for three or four years, like Duncan, then no matter what secrets he held, Dave Odom would have plenty of time to slowly uncover them...