The longest river

Chapter 13 The Strongest Class of High School Students
Yang Shuai received the newspaper from Johnson after training.

Johnson was excited about the publication of this report because it was well-written.

Yang Shuai took a look and agreed with this point.

One of the essential elements of journalism is clickbait headlines, which are headlines that sound very gimmicky.

Furthermore, they took the opportunity to give him the local English name "Hansen" to make it easier for American readers to accept.

The accompanying photo for this report was also of high quality; it featured Yang Shuai's "goodnight" celebration gesture to Daniels after his game-winning shot.

This not only demonstrates Yang Shuai's ability to make crucial plays, but also highlights his unique personality.

As for the content, it not only describes his matchup against Daniels, but also seriously includes details of the final round that took place on the Cleveland High School bench.

“‘I’ll guard Antonio,’ Yang said calmly but firmly, looking at his head coach, Ray Johnson.”

The brief words, however, paint a very vivid picture in the reader's mind.

Yang Shuai finally looked at the author's name on the article.

Alfred Paul.

It turns out he was the scout from Ohio University.

interesting.

The regional competition schedule is more intensive than the divisional preliminaries, with 2 to 3 matches per week, which will be a test of the physical fitness of high school players who are used to playing one match a week.

After returning to Cleveland and resting for two days, Yang Shuai and his team once again hosted Reynoldsburg High School, led by eleventh-year player Calvin Booth.

Booth is a 2.11-meter-tall black center. Although he is not as famous as Daniels, he is still a top-ranked player in Ohio.

Johnson had previously mentioned player star ratings, and since Booth was in the same class as him, Yang asked Johnson to check the rankings and learned that Booth was now a three-star high school player ranked 121st in the nation in the 1995 class.

So even though the opponent is weaker in this match, it is more important for Yang Shuai.

After all, he doesn't have a star rating yet. If he can suppress Booth in this kind of direct confrontation, he will likely appear on the list in the next media update.

On the day of the game, many university scouts were present.

During pre-game warm-ups, they ran over to the Cleveland High School half of the court to talk to Johnson.

Clearly, they were here not because of Booth, but because of Yang Shuai.

During the opening ceremony, Yang Shuai was introduced for the first time, marking his first start in his high school career.

Yang Shuai greeted the cheers of the fans, but his mind was filled with the negative energy of a loser.

Given the poor chemistry between Yang Shuai and Luther in the previous game, Yang Shuai started instead of replacing Luther.

The match started quickly. Yang Shuai looked at Booth's horse-like face on the other side. He felt that the name was somewhat familiar, and he immediately remembered who the other person was.

Isn't this the Nuggets general manager who would later go home with Mike Malone before the playoffs started?

Although his cheeks still look quite youthful, his long face hasn't changed at all.

Knowing the opponent's identity, Yang Shuai played more cautiously at the start of the game.

But after playing half a quarter, he realized that Booth's level was far inferior to Daniels'.

Booth is a big man with average physical strength and average speed. His only advantage is his wingspan, which looks to be over 2.20 meters, making him a very intimidating defender in the paint.

But that's about it; he can't defend pick-and-rolls.

Taking advantage of these weaknesses, Yang Shuai frequently used the center's off-ball screens to circle out and shoot at the start of the game.

He was in good form, and Cleveland High School quickly took the initiative.

Once the team gained the upper hand, Yang Shuai gradually adjusted his playing style, and he began to attack the basket more often to challenge Booth.

Finally, in the second half, he seized his opportunity and completed a dunk over Booth after a breakthrough.

This shot instantly ignited the school gymnasium and drew frequent nods of approval from the scouts in the stands.

This seemingly unwise choice is the most direct way to demonstrate Yang Shuai's dominance over Booth.

After that, Yang Shuai went all out, frequently breaking through Booth's defense to score, helping Cleveland High School establish an early lead.

Besides talent and ability, momentum is also very important in basketball.

最终，杨帅在自己的首场首发比赛中出场26分钟，贡献31分8板2助攻2盖帽。

His outstanding performance in two consecutive games earned him offers from three more NCAA Division I conferences after the game.

Just a few days later, when major media outlets updated their rankings of the 1995 graduating class of high school students, Yang Shuai's name did not appear on the list.

This puzzled him. Was it because he hadn't played enough matches? Or was it because he was yellow-skinned?

The good news, however, is that he received an invitation from Ohio University to visit the campus.

Such invitations typically appear when players are choosing a college in their twelfth grade, but Yang Shuai received one now, indicating that Ohio University is very interested in him. On a non-game day, Johnson drove Yang Shuai to Athens, where Ohio University is located, a place 120 kilometers from Columbia, the capital of Ohio.

The person who greeted them at the door was an old acquaintance.

When Paul saw them, he immediately came up to greet them warmly.

He had also rented three bicycles in advance, and they toured the campus by bicycle.

Yang Shuai's first impression was that the campus environment was beautiful.

Ohio University is situated on a hill in the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by winding rivers, dense forests, and five state parks, making it feel like Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from Harry Potter.

Paul also told them that in autumn, the mountains are covered with falling maple leaves, which is a special sight.

Their last stop in the morning was the school gymnasium.

However, Paul didn't take them to the current stadium, but to a large construction site.

Because the current stadium is quite old, the school has started construction on a new stadium, which is expected to be completed in 1996. It will be a new stadium that can accommodate 13,000 people.

In other words, if Yang Shuai successfully enrolls in Ohio University after graduating from high school next year, he will have the opportunity to use this new arena.

In fact, Ohio University's basketball level is comparable to Cleveland State University, but it lags far behind well-known institutions such as Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati.

However, after visiting the site, Yang Shuai couldn't help but imagine himself living and playing basketball here.

He suddenly realized that the guy opposite him was a rare talent.

Johnson went to meet a friend at noon, while Yang Shuai stayed and had lunch with Paul in the school cafeteria.

Yang Shuai thanked Paul during the meal.

Paul's article played a significant role in attracting so many college scouts to the game against Renorsburg High School.

"You're a unique player." Unexpectedly, Paul didn't seem to care much about his thanks, but instead gave him a very high compliment.

“Have you heard of Wataru Misaka?” Paul then asked him.

Yang Shuai shook his head; it sounded like a Japanese name.

"He was the first Asian player to play in the NBA."

Yang Shuai certainly learned a lot.

"However, he is more symbolic. He only played 3 games and scored 7 points. He is not capable of playing in the NBA. In fact, no Asian player can do that."

Paul's subsequent explanation fully illustrates Yang Shuai's experiences after time travel; it was discrimination, but it was also a fact.

“But you’re different.” Paul changed the subject. “Not only are you incredibly skilled, but more importantly, you have an aura on the court that I’ve never seen in an Asian player before. You might not believe it, but I think you’ll be the first.”

Yang Shuai didn't expect Paul to have such a high opinion of him, which increased his goodwill towards Paul even more.

"You are also the most capable scout I have ever seen."

When two people start praising each other, that's when they're getting closer and starting to have a lot to talk about.

As they chatted, Yang Shuai brought up the media star ranking issue that had been troubling him recently.

As a scout, Paul should know more about this kind of thing than either Johnson or him.

"The level of high school students in recent years has been quite high. Take your class of 1995 for example, Shareef Abdul-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, and Robert Treyler are all well-known. In addition, Paul Pierce and Antawn Jamison have also risen to prominence this season."

In those days, the internet was not well-developed, and Yang Shuai did not have the opportunity to go online. Just like before, he had to ask Johnson to check Booth's rankings, so he did not know much about his competitors from the same cohort.

But when he heard Paul say that, he was completely stunned.

These were names he hadn't just heard of; they were all All-Stars, even Hall of Famers.

The talent of his class is simply terrifying.

However, Paul wasn't explaining this to Yang Shuai; his next words were the key point.

"However, the level of basketball in Ohio has been low in recent years, which has led the media to regard both the NSAA and AAU held in Ohio as 'low-level competitions'."

Paul's meaning is clear: the media won't focus on low-level matches, so he will naturally receive less attention.

It was only then that Yang Shuai realized that most of the teams that had sent him offers were from local Ohio universities.

Paul concluded by offering his advice: "You need to play in AAU tournaments in states with higher visibility, and in high-level AAU tournaments sponsored by Nike or Adidas, that's how you improve your ranking."

-Dividing line-

①: American media star ratings and draft reports are similar, which comprehensively score players based on factors such as size, offense, defense, physical attributes, and leadership. A score of over 90 is considered a five-star high school player, 80-90 is considered a four-star high school player, and so on.

The number of players of each star level varies from year to year due to fluctuations in the overall level of the players, but there are generally about 25 to 30 five-star players, 100 four-star players, and 200 three-star players each year.

(End of this chapter)