Wayne hadn't decided whether to participate in the draft, so he fell asleep on the bed out of exhaustion.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already the day of the opening game of the NCAA Big 12 Conference of the 2003-04 season.

Wayne actually didn't sleep well all night because he was a little too excited!

He woke up three or four times in the middle of his sleep, not because he was woken up, but because he suddenly woke up.

Every time he woke up and looked at the clock, Wayne was very disappointed to find that it was still early before dawn.

When a person is extremely looking forward to something that will happen the next day, he will enter such a state of excitement that he cannot sleep.

Even when I fell asleep, I slept very lightly and my mind was still active. I wished I could see the sun the next day as soon as I opened my eyes.

But this time after waking up, Wayne really saw the sun.

He sat up from the bed and looked at the date displayed on his Nokia tablet.

November 2, 2003, Sunday.

That's right, this time it's not a dream.

The day Wayne has been waiting for has finally arrived!

"If you want to participate in the draft, then you can't make any mistakes from the first game." Wayne clapped his hands and encouraged himself.

One thing that must be admitted is that Wayne was not a very motivated person in his previous life.

He was ordinary when he was studying, but after working 996 hours every day, his enthusiasm was wiped out.

He felt that his life was repeated every day, and he could see it all at a glance. Over time, he no longer knew what motivation was.

But today, Wayne's enthusiasm is high.

During this period of time traveling through time, Wayne was always able to find new goals to urge his efforts.

This time, the goal is to enter the first round!

No matter what, Wayne had to try it first.

The NCAA competition is not like the NBA. There are at least 82 games in a season. Counting the playoffs, it is possible to play hundreds of games.

With so many games, there are naturally many opportunities for performance. And even if one or two of them perform poorly, it doesn't seem to be a big deal.

But the NCAA is completely different. For example, the Big 12 Conference where Wayne is a member has only 35 regular season games in a season.

The final tournament, which is the Big 12 Conference playoffs, consists of four rounds and is a single-elimination system.

After entering the March Madness tournament, even if we get to the end, we only need to play 6 games.

What's more, not everyone can make it to the end.

Therefore, if Wayne wants to go from being a little transparent to the first round of the draft, he can only seize this opportunity of playing less than 50 games.

I have no American high school basketball background, and I played poorly in my freshman year. I only have the chance to prove myself to the NBA in less than 50 games this season.

It has to be said that it is very difficult to reach the first round.

If Wayne can't perform amazingly, it will be difficult to convince NBA teams to select him in the first round.

Therefore, Wayne did not dare to delay a single moment.

From the opening game, you must show everything you can.

Thinking of this, Wayne was about to put down his Nokia, wash up and go straight to the arena.

But just when he was about to put the phone on the bed, Nokia issued an extremely retro text message notification sound.

Wayne picked it up and saw it was a text message from home.

"Today's opening game, right? It's a good game, don't be nervous. The coach has put you in the starting lineup, which is a sign of recognition for you. Listen to the coach's instructions and pass more passes to your teammates. Yes, remember to protect yourself.

Home.

In two days, I asked Uncle Liu from your newspaper office to collect your news. Your mother has posted your silhouette from the American newspaper all over the house. Have a good time playing there, and I will call you next time. International long distance is too

Gui. Let’s go to bed first, it’s still midnight here, and we’ll be waiting for your good news.”

Although Wayne has not yet met his "parents", he has no deep feelings for them.

But when he saw the text message on the small screen and the simple sentences with dialect pronunciation, Wayne still felt warm in his heart.

In my hometown on the other side of the ocean, there are still people waiting for my good news!

Tonight, we must take off no matter what!

※※※

"Chinese reporter?" Old Sutton looked at Sean in front of him with a little surprise in his eyes.

"That's right, they want to meet Wayne before the game starts and ask for your permission." Sean shrugged, so why wasn't he surprised?

Chinese reporters are rare visitors in the NCAA.

Last summer, Yao Ming entered the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick, opening up a cross-sea basketball bridge between China and the United States.

At this point, more and more Chinese fans and reporters are pouring into NBA arenas.

But the NCAA has not been affected at all, and Chinese fans’ awareness of the NCAA is still almost blank.

This is mainly because the Chinese players who played in the NCAA before have not achieved any results, so they do not attract much attention in China, so it is impossible for Chinese reporters to appear in college competitions.

Originally, the NCAA was only relatively popular in the United States. After all, only local schools would have the support of local fans and former alumni to attract fans.

Going abroad, without the geographical factors and the feelings of the alma mater, the popularity of the NCAA cannot be compared with that of the NBA.

Sutton has been involved in college basketball for so many years, and this is the first time he has encountered a Chinese reporter covering such a thing.

Yes, even though Wayne had played for the Cowboys for one year last season, not to mention Chinese reporters, not even Sutton, a Chinese international student who came to watch the game, saw a few.

Maybe many people don't even know that there is a Chinese student on the Cowboys.

But this year...

"Is it such an exaggeration? Wei Wei only played four warm-up games, and Chinese reporters have already been attracted?"

"That's right. Since Yao entered the league last season, more and more Chinese basketball reporters have come to the United States. I guess they can't wait to find the next Yao in college."

"What an exaggeration. Tell them to come to the tunnel before the game starts. When the team enters the stadium, they can meet Wei. But they can't enter the locker room to take pictures, and they can't ask about tactics.

problem."

Sutton shook his head, is this the market effect of Chinese players?

Wayne is just an NCAA player who has played four good games, and he has already been able to attract Chinese reporters to come for interviews.

He really couldn't imagine how much dividends the Mosaic team with Yao Ming had reaped from the Chinese market.

The other teams are probably jealous.

They never expected that in addition to being used to play ball, the economic value produced by Chinese players is also immeasurable.

However, Sutton was very pleased to see Wayne's popularity soaring into the sky like a mosaic in his butt.

He believes that after this season, Wayne's popularity will rise to a higher level.

When Wayne arrived in the locker room in the afternoon, every teammate's face was full of seriousness.

The same goes for Wayne himself. Although Wayne played well in the previous four warm-up games, as a senior fan in his previous life, Wayne still knew the huge difference between the warm-up games and the regular season.

Just like, you can't compare the intensity of NBA preseason games with the real regular season.

What's more, the Cowboys' opponent in the opening game, the University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes, is not a fat team.

Since developing Billups, the Buffaloes have become very prestigious in the Big 12 Conference.

This season, they will also have the opportunity to develop a first-round pick, David Harrison.

David Harrison was already a star player in high school. He was ranked 13th in the United States at the time and was a veritable five-star high school student.

After entering college, Harrison relied on his strong body and superb low-post offensive skills to establish his position in the Big 12 League.

With a height of 2.13 meters and a body weighing 112 kilograms, he is invincible in the penalty area.

This body is considered strong in the NBA, let alone in the college arena.

Last season, Harrison averaged 15.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and was selected to the Big 12 First Team.

In other words, you can understand that he is the number one center in the Big 12 League!

Currently, Harrison's draft pick is predicted to be between the first part of the second round and the late part of the first round.

This kind of meat shield-type blue-collar center is still quite popular in this era.

What's more, compared to other blue-collar workers, Harrison also has good low-post offensive skills.

Such opponents are much stronger than the four in the warm-up match.

Today is the opening game again, and it's at home. Naturally, the Cowboys players don't want to lose.

So as soon as we entered the locker room, the serious atmosphere before the war hit us.

Even the always calm old Sutton was frowning at this time. David Harrison was indeed a big trouble for the Cowboys.

His strong defensive ability in the penalty area is bound to contain the impact of Tony Allen and Graham.

On the offensive end, it was difficult for Holmes to guard Harrison, who was a full circle older than him.

At this time, Sutton's eyes fell on Wayne.

On the surface, it seems that the skinny Wayne is even less likely to compete with Harrison. But Sutton has a plan at this time, and in that plan, Wayne is the key to containing Harrison.

Of course, that was the last resort. Before that, Sutton still wanted to see if Harrison was such a threat.

Sutton didn't say much to encourage the players in the locker room after that. The players themselves were nervous enough in this game.

If you make the atmosphere too tense, you will lose more than you gain.

Therefore, after talking about some basic tactics, Sutton called the players to the court to warm up.

Wayne, wearing his No. 11 jersey, jumped up and down twice. He was about to go out, but was caught by Sutton.

"coach?"

"Wei, there are two reporters from your home country in the player tunnel who want to meet you. You can talk to them for a few words before going to warm up."

"Chinese reporter?" Wayne was a little flattered after hearing this. His story spread to China so quickly?

This was 2003, when the Internet was not very developed.

After all, even in the era of developed Internet, the NCAA failed to become popular in the country.

My appearance will not change the influence of the NCAA in China...

Wayne then straightened his jersey and walked out of the locker room.

It was the first time in my life that I was being interviewed by a reporter, so I had to improve my image.

Wayne was still curious about what kind of reporter it was, but as soon as he stepped out of the locker room door, Wayne saw two familiar faces.

"Hey, Wayne, how are you?" Not far away, a man in plain clothes waved to Wayne and spoke friendly Chinese.

Next to him, a younger man in a suit and tie smiled honestly at Wayne.

Wayne looked at them and smiled.

This is not Zhang Guangzhi and Yu Jia.

Unexpectedly, it was these two old acquaintances.

"Oh, this young man, with this height and body. Look at what a great condition he has." As soon as Director Zhang opened his mouth, Wayne felt like he was in a quotation from Wei Ping.

"Oh, let me introduce you, Xiao Wei, I am Zhang Weiping, and this is Yu Jia next to me, we..."

"I know you two, I've heard the games you explained." Wayne waved his hand, you two are very familiar with each other.

Especially Director Zhang, Wayne can recite Weiping's quotations backwards!

"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to also pay attention to domestic NBA broadcasts. Xiaowei, before the game starts, let's ask you a few simple questions. After the game is over, we will come down and chat alone."

"No problem, you guys came all the way, tonight..." Wayne thought of the bearded guy who bumped into him before, and agreed to get a 50% discount on dinner at his place, "Let's find a place to hang out tonight.

Let’s talk while eating.”

"You can eat, but we have to treat you. After all, you are not a professional player yet, hahahaha. Let's ask you a few questions first, Wayne. In today's game, the opponent's center can basically be said to be at the top of the draft.

40 player.”

"He is basically a future NBA player. So, what do you think your chances of winning today are?"

Although I have seen some reports about Wayne in China and heard some exaggerated rumors.

But Zhang Weiping and Yu Jia have no idea about Wayne's true level.

So they wanted to use this question to test whether Wayne has the confidence to play in the NBA.

As a result, Wayne's answer was very calm.

"What are the chances of winning? Well...I never thought I would lose."

Zhang Weiping:???

So arrogant?

Wayne's answer was surprisingly straightforward.

"Anyway, let's watch the game first. It's time for me to go out and warm up. After the game, we can talk slowly."

Wayne smiled and waved goodbye to the two, then trotted out of the tunnel.

The moment he ran out, the cheers doubled.

Director Zhang and Yu Jia looked at each other.

When they first saw the reports about Wayne, they thought they were exaggerated.

But now they feel...
Chapter completed!