Chapter 1: The Tower of the East

The morning sun gently sprinkled on Ames, illuminating this small American city with a total population of less than 70,000. The streets of the city www.biquge.info deserted, with no traffic jams and no busy pedestrians, Ames City began its peaceful day in the warm weather of September.

George Ricard munched on a sandwich prepared by his wife while flipping through the newspaper in his hand. Reading the newspaper at breakfast was a habit he had developed for a long time. Riccard unconsciously flipped the newspaper directly to the sports section, and quickly searched for the news in the newspaper.

"Derek Ross has chosen to join the University of Memphis! Ross: Playing under Coach John Calipari will definitely improve me. ”

The headline of the news was not bolded, and the content was only a small part of the sports section. It's normal that most people don't care which college a high school player chooses to attend, even if that person is a high school star. It's September, and the NBA transfer turmoil is much more exciting than the selection of high school players. But George was more concerned about the news of college basketball because he was the head coach of the local Iowa State University basketball team in Ames. And, he's just taken office.

"How's breakfast?"

"It's been fantastic, Peggy. Rickard put down the newspaper and looked at his lover with a smile on his face. "I really want to enjoy this quiet morning, but in Chicago there is a lot of hustle and bustle. With that, Ricard looked at his watch, drank the rest of the coffee in his cup in one gulp, and then got up and picked up the briefcase on the table. "I guess I'm going to have to go out, though. ”

"Works well dear. With his wife kissing goodbye in front of the goal, Rickard began his fourth day as head coach at the university.

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Riccard, a former basketball coach at a Chicago high school, led the team to a division championship last season. Happy, Rickard unexpectedly received an offer to teach at Iowa State University. As the former head coach of Iowa State University prepares to retire, Ricard, who has performed well, is naturally one of the candidates to succeed him.

Ames is a small city, far from being comparable to Chicago. Iowa State University is a mediocre team in the NCAA's Big 12 League, with no historic achievements, and no NBA stars have come out of here, and the only player to establish himself in the NBA and be an All-Star and win two three-point contests, Jeff Hornacek, is the only celebrity on the team, who led the team to the NCAA's round of 16 in the March Madness Knockout Game and defeated the second-seeded team at the time, the University of Michigan Wolves, but that was in 1986.

After that, Iowa State University began to gradually become mediocre and never cheered up. However, being able to coach a team in the NCAA's Division 1 Division is enough to excite Ricard. So he didn't think much about it, accepted the invitation, and moved to Ames City with his wife. It's not a big city, but it's a city with moderate temperatures, easy transportation, and a reputation as a safe and secure city in the United States. So Riccard seems very happy these days, not only has he found his dream job, but he can also live in a peaceful and comfortable place.

………………..

But when it comes to the state of work, Rickard couldn't be happier.

He's a competitive guy who was his players when he was coaching in high school and his team is always looking to win every game. This personality made Riccard very eager to change the mediocre results of Iowa State every year, but it backfired, and he did not have many options in the roster. Without the support of excellent players, it has undoubtedly become a fool's dream to change the results.

In the past few days, his work has mainly focused on recruiting new students, and their school is not like Duke North Carolina and the like, where a large number of high school stars compete to join every year. There are no scouts sprinkled around the world, and there are no hefty basketball scholarships to attract talented players. Trying to find good players here is a real headache for him.

On the way to his office, he passes one of the school's outdoor basketball courts, where students play after school. Every day Ricard passes by he stops to take a look, hoping to find a surprise. However, there hasn't been much of a standout for him in the past three days, as most of the school's best players are already on his team's tryouts. But today, he saw a guy that left him dumbfounded.

Rickard saw a tall, yellow-skinned, dark-haired man on the pitch. He visually measured that this guy's height must be more than 2.10 meters, although he is thin, his muscles are obvious and very strong. The most eye-catching thing is his long arms, which must have exceeded his height. The man is in excellent physical condition and now Ricard is going to see how he plays the ball.

A big black guy with a huge size is the opposing player of the yellow-skinned guy, but this 2.03 meter "big black guy" is still a lot shorter than the Asian guy. The yellow-skinned player was aggressive, the chassis was solid, and the opposing player tried hard to push him out, but he was unmoved.

The teammate hoisted the ball in, and the yellow-skinned guy received it steadily. Ricard became excited, staring intently at him, watching every movement of the yellow-skinned guy.

He began to dribble and hit his back inside, and the first time, the momentum sank, and the black man behind him took a big step back, and then the second time, he had one foot in the three-second zone, and the alignment still couldn't stop him. Then, instead of using his body to continue pushing inside, he held the ball with both hands, turned with his left foot in the opposite direction of the basket, lifted his feet off the ground, and made a jumper from close range.

"He's tall but he's very soft, he's not a layman, he's definitely started playing basketball a long time ago. Rickard silently commented on the Asian in his heart. Sure enough, the basketball went into the net with a perfect arc hollow and a beautiful close-range shot.

"Well done, Ann!" the yellow-skinned boy just gave his teammate a thumbs up at him, and the yellow-skinned boy just smiled shyly and ran back to his own half.

When it is the opponent's turn to attack, on the offensive end, the player who is opposite him still has less than half of the advantage, and he doesn't even have a position at all. A guy with a fancy's dribble on the opposing side easily passed his own defender and managed to break through and prepare for a layup. At this time, no one seemed to have time to help defend, the opposing player burst to the basket, sent the ball up, and the basketball slowly rose, looking like a must-score goal. However, a huge figure is separated between the basketball and the hoop. The yellow-skinned guy jumped high, straightened his long arms, and opened his big hand to confiscate the ball that was still rising.

"Catch, oh my God!" isn't a great jumper, but thanks to his long arms and big hands, he's a good barrier on the defensive end. Even though the yellow-skinned guy was catching a player who was much shorter than him, Ricard was still a little shocked.

After confiscating the ball, the yellow-skinned guy threw the ball to his teammate with a long pass, and the teammate received the ball and easily made a basket. Such a height allows him to have a wide view on the field and have an unobstructed view.

The next Asian boys did a good job of defending, and the tight pressing made the opponent force a shot. The moment the opposing player made a move, the yellow-skinned boy immediately stuck in position, his long arms were spread, and most of the penalty area was under his control.

Judging the landing point, the jump time was a little early, but even then no one could compete with him, and his much taller and arm span allowed him to get the rebound.

After that, he received a pass from his teammate at 45 degrees to the left of the mid-range, and without hesitation, he immediately jumped and shot. The opposing player also tried to jump up and interfere, but only managed to reach the yellow-skinned guy's elbow. Another soft shot, the basketball turned twice on the basket and still obediently went into the net.

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Rickard watched the whole game from the sidelines, even forgetting that he was fifteen minutes late for work. The yellow-skinned boy's performance in the competition was perfect. The back-to-back technique is comprehensive, the shooting feel is soft, the chassis is solid, and the performance on the defensive end is even more dominant, and under his cover, no opponent can score a point in the three-second zone. Thinking back to the yellow-skinned boy's performance on the field, Rickard felt as if he had found an undiscovered gold mine. With his physical condition and skills, as long as he trains hard, he will be able to catch up with the NCAA next season.

"Come on boy, I need all the people who can play. Riccardo thought to himself as he walked over to the yellow-skinned boy who was sweating profusely after playing.

"It's really cool to play today, with you, we will definitely win the championship in the department competition. Hey, Angelo is going to have a party at home in the evening, are you coming?" asked his teammate who had been passing the ball to the yellow-skinned boy.

"No, Jason, I'm going to work part-time at a fast food restaurant in the evening. The yellow-skinned boy waved his hand.

"Hey, good boy, what's your name?" As the two were talking, a middle-aged man's voice suddenly interjected. The yellow-skinned boy looked up and saw that Rickard was standing in front of him.

"Huh?" the boy visibly didn't have time to react to the stranger's sudden question.

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I'm the new head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones, and I'm coming to you to talk about you playing under me. Now the team is recruiting new guys everywhere and I've just seen how you're doing and I think you can give it a try. ”

"Playing under you, Iowa State Cyclones? you mean...... You mean!" The yellow-skinned boy's eyes widened and he jerked to his feet. In an instant, Ricard had to look up at him as much as possible.

"You mean, you can play in the NCAA Division 1 division!" his eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Yes, NCAA Division I. Ricard was pleased to see his reaction, he was still wondering how to convince him if the other party refused, but now it seems that he is overthinking.

"Oh my God, do you hear me, Jason, it's incredible. The yellow-skinned boy was visibly agitated and incoherent.

"By the way, my name is Anjie!" he said, stretching out his right hand.

Rickard also reached out to shake his hand. "I'm George Ricard, so where are you from?"

"I'm from China and I'm an international student. ”

"China? Didn't the universities in your country see your performance in the high school league?" Ricard thought to himself, with such a good height and reach, his performance in the Chinese high school league must be dominant.

People with such physical conditions should have many Chinese universities rushing to ask for him and then let him embark on the path of professional basketball. Why did he come to the United States? And he didn't come to play basketball, Riccard was a little puzzled.

"China's high school league is completely different from this one, and our country's school sports system is quite different from that of the United States. And in China, most parents will not support their children to take the path of professional sports. Speaking of the school sports system in his motherland, An Jie was also a little helpless.

"By the way, coach, I never had any formal basketball training, everything was done on the courts on the streets of China. In this way, can you really play NCAA?" Anjie is not a fool, he knows that NCAA is not just a simple college league, it is a place to send basketball talents to the NBA and even the world!

"I can teach you anything but your height, reach, and love of basketball, provided you're willing to learn and work hard. You already have the first two things I can't teach, and the rest is up to you. If you'd like, come to the basketball court at one o'clock this afternoon. "Ricard knows that this guy has a lot of flaws, but at the same time, he sees things in Anjie that others don't have. There are too few traditional centers in basketball these days, and Anjie's playing style and technical characteristics give him the potential to become a good traditional center.

A Chinese guy who loves basketball has now been given a chance to play college basketball in the United States. It seemed like an offer that no one could refuse.

"I'll be on time, Coach!" Anjie bowed politely to Ricard, smiling brightly.

In 1981, at the age of 18, Hakim Olajuwon first learned what regular basketball was.

In 1987, at the age of 21, Dekembe Mutombo was discovered by the varsity coach and introduced to basketball for the first time.

Although they came into contact with regular basketball late, in the end, both of them became legendary centers through hard training.

In 2007, 18-year-old An Jie already had good basic basketball skills. If he is willing to put in several times the effort of others, then anything can happen to this child......