Zack Rosen is no stranger to fanfare.
Throughout the first few weeks of this season, Rosen was touted — both among Penn fans and the national media — as one of the best point guards in the nation.
Although his numbers have taken a dip as of late, Rosen continues to be the hot topic when discussing Quakers basketball.
His statistics have been dissected, as have his poise under pressure and ability to command the Red and Blue.
Heck, he was even a semifinalist for the Bob Cousy Award, which is annually presented to the top Division I point guard.
But despite all of this, there have always been lingering doubts about Rosen’s ability to transition to the professional level.
He is called an ‘NBA Prospect’ by so-called experts, but the prognostications pretty much stop there.
A lot of that has to do with the conference in which he plays and the opponents against whom he is matched.
“Particularly now for the Ivy League, it’s like ‘Those guys are smart, they don’t really play basketball, they’re not athletic, they’re spoiled,’” Rosen said. “Those are the perceptions that you have to deal with and overcome.”
These perceptions are not preemptive to NBA success, however.
One glaring example of overcoming low expectations has taken form in former Harvard star and current New York Knick Jeremy Lin.
In his last three games for the Knickerbockers, Lin has looked absolutely sensational, averaging 25.3 points and 8.3 assists.
His performance Monday night against the Utah Jazz — 28 points and 8 assists — was impressive enough to garner debate from the talking heads that populate ESPN’s Around the Horn.
Lin’s success has shown Rosen that his dream is possible, if not likely.
“As an Ivy League basketball player, I guess it gives you a little confidence,” Rosen admitted.
As Rosen is well aware, it takes more than just confidence to make it against the likes of LeBron James and Blake Griffin.
It takes a tireless work ethic, something Rosen has displayed since first stepping onto the Penn campus.
But even more importantly, being successful in the most elite basketball league in the world — with the odds stacked against you to begin with — takes perseverance.
Lin has shown just what can be accomplished with perseverance.
“Obviously he’s making the most of the opportunity he has in New York right now,” Rosen said. “He got cut from the [Houston] Rockets, released, cut, signed, didn’t really practice, then he gets in the game and he just blows it up.”
Lin’s explosive play has indeed added legitimacy to any Ivy player’s quest to share the floor with the best basketball players in the world.
Having grown up a New Jersey Nets fan and avid watcher of the Knicks, Rosen was particularly affected by Lin’s ability to get the crowd roaring for him.
“I turned the TV on and Madison Square Garden is cheering ‘Jeremy Lin,’” Rosen said. “For me — growing up watching Patrick Ewing — it’s just surreal.”
Surreal because just two years ago, Rosen and Lin were competing on the same floor, and now Lin just showed his ability to dominate in the NBA.
For Rosen, the surreal feeling may be real sooner than he thinks.
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ELI COHEN is a senior philosophy major from Washington, D.C. He can be reached at dpsports@theDP.com._
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