From the very first minute of ESPN's morning broadcast of SportsCenter, highlights of Texas Tech's rout of North Carolina played on repeat. Play-by-play commentator Dan Shulman's voice echoed through living rooms across Lubbock:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed history! The Texas Tech Red Raiders blew out the University of North Carolina 101 to 76, punching their ticket to the Final Four for the first time in program history! And the hero behind it all is none other than the sensational freshman from China—Eli Xu!"
Replaying endlessly across the screen was the footage of Xu Ling's ferocious dunk in the closing moments of the game: surging across half-court like a streak of red lightning, he had sent Brandan Wright flying like a crumbling wall. The moment the ball slammed through the rim, the entire HP Pavilion seemed to shake.
The sports headline of The New York Times read bluntly: "Red Storm: How TTU Swept Past North Carolina," breaking down the secret to the Red Raiders' victory in detail: "Bob Knight, the legendary head coach, returns to the Final Four after twenty years. He placed his bet on Eli, and that gamble paid off handsomely. With 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, you will simply never see another player deliver a performance like this on the road to the Final Four!"
The reaction in professional basketball circles was even more feverish.
The recency bias was in full effect.
College basketball experts across the country updated their 2007 NBA mock drafts, and on the latest boards, Xu Ling finally leapfrogged Kevin Durant to claim the projected No. 2 overall pick.
ESPN's premier draft analyst, Chad Ford, wrote in his latest column: "Months from now, the excitement among league executives will cool, and the fervor will subside. Perhaps Kevin Durant is still destined to be a top-two pick. But I must emphasize that last night, Eli played the kind of game we have always hoped to see from Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. It was sheer dominance. We rarely use the word 'dominant' to describe a freshman, but no word better captures what Eli did last night."
The entire state of Texas was in an absolute frenzy.
The first Texas celebrity to publicly voice support for TTU was Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming—a fellow countryman's bond that surprised no one.
Yet as TTU battled through the bracket while every other Lone Star State representative fell by the wayside, their miraculous run to the Final Four shattered regional rivalries, rallying the entire state behind them.
Houston local radio had been looping TTU game audio since morning, with host after host proclaiming passionately: "Texas finally has a team that can represent us on the march to a national championship! TTU is the last hope of Texas. Everyone else is out. Right now, all of Texas stands behind the Red Raiders!"
In Dallas, fans had hopped on the TTU bandwagon even earlier than Houston. Diehard Xu Ling fans there had gone so far as to parody the "Yao Ming Song" originally created in Houston to welcome the Chinese giant, and the catchy, infectious "Eli Song" echoed through the streets of Dallas.
Down in Austin, a nationwide "Eli Fan Club" was formally launched.
On the Texas Tech campus, the aftershocks of victory were still reverberating.
Students plastered posters beneath dorm buildings showing the moment Xu Ling posterized Brandan Wright to death, captioned with the rally cry: "Red Raiders, fight on!"
Xu Ling's roommate, Roderick Craig, had become the busiest man on campus.
Due to heart issues, Craig had barely played during his freshman season, and the coaching staff had intentionally begun steering him toward other responsibilities. After all, an athlete with a heart condition had virtually no professional future, so developing other skill sets early made practical sense.
As a result, while Craig remained on the official roster, his role on the team resembled that of an operations manager.
One of his main tasks assigned by the coaching staff was looking after Xu Ling, making sure the foreign freshman settled into daily life.
Now, Craig's primary job was turning down invitations sent to Xu Ling from campus departments and fielding relentless requests from male and female students alike.
At noon, when Craig went to the dining hall for lunch, the television overhead was still airing Xu Ling's highlights.
Craig overheard students chatting all around him.
"Did you see Eli's poster dunk yesterday? Insane!"
"That idiot Brandan Wright had it coming!"
"Eli definitely took it easy on him. If I were Eli, I wouldn't just embarrass him—I'd step right over him!"
Watching his roommate, who had started at the exact same baseline as him, become an overnight national superstar, Craig couldn't help marveling at how unpredictable life was.
"Roderick, you're not with Eli?"
A student soon recognized him.
Craig sighed helplessly. "Eli asked me to grab lunch for him. He's probably at the gym right now."
Inside the Womble Center, a focused tension hung in the air. Bob Knight had ordered the players to arrive an hour early, intending to break down their Final Four opponent, Ohio State University (OSU), before practice even began.
"Starting right now, forget about North Carolina. That's in the past," Knight said. "Six days from now, we face Ohio State—a true championship-caliber team."
Knight began his film breakdown with Greg Oden.
On screen, Oden moved like a mobile fortress. Standing seven feet tall with a staggering wingspan, every block he delivered looked like a death sentence handed down to the offense.
"Oden isn't Hansbrough," Knight said, his voice low and commanding. "He's younger, faster, and more dominant. And his supporting cast is just as dangerous. Mike Conley is an exceptional freshman point guard who can rip any defense apart in transition. Ron Lewis is the best pure shooter in the Big Ten. Daequan Cook and Jamar Butler provide steady perimeter firepower as well. Those four encircle Oden, relying on his defensive anchor to bury opponents all season. Their transition game is top-tier nationwide!"
Ever since OSU recruited Oden, they had built the entire roster around him.
Every recruit was brought in to complement Oden.
A "one star inside, four shooters outside" lineup would become commonplace in the small-ball era, but in this era, it harked back to the Hakeem Olajuwon-era Rockets. That Houston squad had similarly stacked perimeter shooters around The Dream in his prime, ultimately capitalizing on Michael Jordan's baseball sabbatical to win back-to-back championships.
"Now, any thoughts?"
Having finished introducing OSU, Knight looked around at his squad.
Xu Ling shot a teasing look at Jon Plefka, who had spent the previous evening being battered by Tyler Hansbrough. "J.P., allow me to offer my condolences in advance."
"Hahaha!" Darryl Dora roared with laughter. "Joe, you are so dead!"
Plefka wore a sullen expression, mentally cursing his teammates out.
Knight, however, smiled faintly as he turned his gaze on Dora. "Darryl, my plan is to start you in the Final Four. That's right—you're the one going toe-to-toe with Oden."
"Wait, what? I'm fighting Sukuna?" That sudden crestfallen realization hit him hard. The smile never truly disappeared from the room—it simply transferred to everyone else's face.
Because OSU ran an inside-out system surrounded by four shooters, the post defender couldn't count on help from the perimeter. If the interior couldn't hold Oden and the perimeter gave up open threes, defeat would be guaranteed.
Thus, whoever matched up against Oden in the Final Four was bound to suffer a brutal ordeal.
Against the weakest post player in the Final Four, Oden would undoubtedly look like Shaquille O'Neal in his prime.
When the film session wrapped up, the team transitioned to their routine practice.
Knight didn't introduce anything radical or make special adjustments. The kind of miraculous leap in player skill from a pre-boss-fight training camp seen in Japanese sports manga simply didn't exist in reality.
After all, by the time teams reached the Final Four, all their cards were on the table. Every side knew each other's vulnerabilities inside out. The last thing they needed was to go manic like Pat Riley used to back in the day. Maintaining a steady training volume, managing physical conditioning, tuning the team's mindset, and arriving in Atlanta in peak form—that was the coaching staff's true priority over the coming days.
After practice ended, Xu Ling returned to the film room.
"What brings you back here?"
Knight looked up at Xu Ling in surprise.
"I want to watch more OSU game film," Xu Ling said straightforwardly.
Knight didn't press him. He simply brought up the tape of Ohio State's game against Georgetown—the other Elite Eight clash from yesterday. Georgetown boasted an elite collegiate center in Roy Hibbert, yet Oden had dismantled him with effortless ease.
Before his transmigration, Xu Ling had heard his share of legends about Greg Oden. Though future consensus had branded Oden a "bust," fans who looked back still insisted: "Even so, if you held that draft a hundred times back then, Oden would still go number one every single time."
Why? Watching the tape revealed the answer.
A chiseled physique, elite bounce, Dwight Howard-level strength, and Shaquille O'Neal-like explosiveness—these were the raw ingredients that convinced scouts he possessed superstardom potential.
Even more impressive was how he applied those gifts, especially on the defensive end. Just standing in the paint without taking a single step altered an opponent's entire offensive scheme.
And when he received the ball in the low post, his footwork was so nimble it seemed impossible for a seven-foot center.
Watching Oden toy with Hibbert as if he were a schoolboy, Xu Ling could see how effortlessly in command he was.
"He's averaging 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks during the NCAA tournament," Knight said abruptly, his voice deep and deliberate. "He doesn't even pull down as many rebounds per game as you do. Do you find a player like that frightening?"
"Not in itself," Xu Ling replied, calm and direct. "What's frightening is that we don't know how much effort he's actually exerting."
"Exactly!" A satisfied smirk touched Knight's lips. "He's holding back at least forty percent. In all of college basketball, maybe only Florida's Joakim Noah and Al Horford are worth his full effort."
Hearing those words, Xu Ling's eyes sharpened in an instant. He fixed Knight with an intense glare, indignation written across his face.
Am I not worth his full effort? The words remained unspoken, but his eyes screamed the question.
Knight continued, "The NBA scouts, the college basketball beat writers, all those clueless bastards across the country—they're all raving about what you did to North Carolina. A lot of people are calling you the Freshman of the Year. That's going to sting Oden, no doubt. He's been coasting for too long. He's desperate to prove he's still the generational talent scouts believed him to be. So you can rest assured."
With some people, even when you know they are deliberately baiting you, you still walk into the trap with eyes wide open.
"If only to prove to the entire world that he's the best player of your generation," Knight said, "he will unleash everything he has to crush you."
It was a blatantly obvious hook, but Xu Ling bit down on it anyway.
Xu Ling rose to his feet and met Knight's gaze squarely. "Coach, you're wrong."
"Oh?" Knight arched an eyebrow, curious to hear what brilliant insight this brash freshman had to offer.
"It's not a matter of 'if only' to prove something," Xu Ling said, his tone laden with oppressive confidence, every syllable hitting like a hammer. "He has to prove it. Because I already beat him to the punch—I've already shown the world that I am the best freshman in the nation!"
Dead silence fell over the room.
Then, slowly, Knight nodded. "Damn right. That's the spirit."
Chapter 38