After spending as long as nine months to lift the constraints and lay the foundation, he must use his sweat in the coming year to tell the world:
He has the ability to continue playing like he did in college after heading to the NBA.
This year’s expedition for Wake Forest ended at the Sweet Sixteen.
Meanwhile, Connecticut, as Qin Yue remembered, fought all the way to the end, defeating Georgia Tech in the final and successfully lifting the NCAA championship trophy.
Emeka Okafor, hailed as the nation’s top college student player, was named the Final Four MOP this year.
After the game, in an interview, the top pick favorite Okafor unsurprisingly shared his beautiful wish of taking his talents to the NBA.
Additionally, when talking about this year’s NCAA journey, Okafor said, "Our final was already played in the Sweet Sixteen... that game taught us a lot from Wake Forest... Qin is an outstanding opponent, and I look forward to meeting him in the NBA in the future."
Another Connecticut giant, Ben Gordon, also announced after the final that he would be entering this year’s NBA draft.
However, compared to the humble Okafor, Gordon bluntly said in the interview, "During this year’s March Madness, we were only tested in the Sweet Sixteen.
Therefore, I think it’s time for me to challenge the NBA."
Although in the interview, Okafor and Gordon seemed to express the same idea.
But no matter how you hear it, Gordon’s words sounded more like:
I’m not targeting anyone; I just want to say, except for Wake Forest, everyone here is trash.
The Connecticut twin stars are about to set sail for the NBA.
Meanwhile, after returning to Winston-Salem with the team...
Wake Forest’s twin stars Qin Yue and Paul clearly announced that both of them would choose to stay in school and continue to fight in the NCAA.
As a freshman, Paul is still far from the God of Point Guards Qin Yue remembered.
Historically, he would originally lead the team to lose to Saint Joseph’s University led by Jamal Nelson during March Madness.
Moreover, in that game, he would be thoroughly outplayed by Nelson. (Note 1)
In this life, Paul narrowly escaped, but through this year’s games, he still saw the gap between himself and NBA-level players.
"I plan to bulk up this summer; LeBron told me he would provide help in this regard during the holidays," Paul said to Qin Yue upon returning to school.
To this, Qin Yue, not wanting to interfere with Paul’s interaction with James, said, "You do need to bulk up, Chris.
Right now, in front of Raymond, Deron, and Jamal, you’re like a little schoolboy, weak and easy to topple with a breeze."
Upon hearing this, after punching Qin Yue in the knee, Paul said, "Hey, buddy, what’s so great about you?
I still remember your terrible post-up moves against Emeka."
Seeing this, Qin Yue shrugged and said, "But I scored 14 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in that game. If you only look at the stats, I should even be the top pick in the NBA this year."
As Qin Yue and Paul’s relationship grew closer, banter became a daily routine between them.
Unfortunately, in this area, Paul found it hard to be a match for Qin Yue.
Because in his past life, Qin Yue had rich experience in online debates.
In April, back at Wake Forest, while Qin Yue was busy improving all his basketball skills and focusing on academics...
On this day, originally planning to delve into some study materials with Rachel Carrell, he received a piece of news from her that intrigued him.
"Are you saying Nike Headquarters offered you an internship?" Qin Yue asked, looking down at Rachel, who was sitting on his lap.
"Isn’t it strange? I never submitted a resume to them, yet they reached out to me," Rachel said.
No, not strange at all.
Because this is exactly the usual method Nike uses to recruit talent.
Before the NCAA reforms, college players could not gain sponsorship, business contracts through agents or other representatives, nor could they benefit through social media, autographs, camps, advertisements, and so on...
So this became one of the reasons why, before the NBA banned high school players from entering the draft, numerous talented high schoolers rushed to bring their talents to the NBA.
In 2001, University of North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty originally thought of showing Desagana Diop the "meager income" of an NBA first-round pick at the time, to tell him that if he joined North Carolina for a year, the "meager income" he could earn in the future might double.
But unexpectedly for Doherty, upon learning that the "meager income" of an NBA first-round pick at that time already exceeded a million US Dollars, Diop immediately decided to skip college and go directly to the NBA.
For Diop, who had grown up in poverty, since he could make big money in the NBA, why would he endure another year of hardship in college?
Hone skills? Improve understanding of basketball?
Sorry, in the face of filling his stomach, Diop at that time couldn’t be bothered with anything else.
In his past life, Qin Yue would eventually find, after NCAA reforms, that many players who genuinely needed college to hone their skills suddenly seemed to enjoy learning again.
But in truth, in American basketball, how many young players truly know they should go to college to hone their skills, or genuinely just want to study?