Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 146: The powerful gather together
Things that happened silently may become irreparable cracks when you look back one day.

The Chaminade Red Devils drove to Kansas City, the largest city in Missouri and the headquarters of Express Scripts.

There are 12 states in the Midwest of the United States, but you may not see the strongest high schools in all 12 states in every invitational tournament. There are two reasons for this: 1. The brand appeal is not strong enough. 2. The tournament has been held for a short time. This is the third year.

Therefore, the Midwest Invitational Tournament often features several teams from the same state.

For example, Indiana has sent out three teams, the most eye-catching of which are Parker-Tudor High School, twin stars Jaren Jackson (3th pick in 18, first team of rookies, 4-2021 NBA blocked shots leader. 22-2022 season, best defensive player, and also won the blocked shots leader of the season. The reason why he is so strong is inseparable from old Jackson, his father. Since the first year of high school, old Jackson has taken him to his former teammates to learn from them and seek experience. Duncan and Garnett both gave Jaren their understanding of the No. 23 position.), Brian Bowen.

Parker-Tudor High School is also currently the team with the best record in Indiana, and the mainstream media predicts that it will continue to win the state championship.

(Indiana is the only state in the U.S. where high school leagues are completely unclassified.)
The remaining two teams are Lawrence Central High School and Nelson Snyder High School. They are equally strong, with Kyle Guy and Malik Williams, both of whom are ESPN rated 90 players.

Jericho Sims from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minnesota (currently playing for the New York Knicks) is also widely watched. He has extremely explosive athletic ability and often becomes the focus of the court. He is a star figure in Minnesota.

Amir Coffey from Hopkins High School is known as the smartest defender, and his EPSN rating is as high as 92 points.

Michigan also has two high schools present, including Austin Davis from Onsted High School, who is known as the last classic center in Michigan and has excellent passing ability. Under his leadership, Onsted High School is currently at the top of the state league.

Flint Huntington Preparatory School, Miles Bridges, currently one of the top 24 high school players in the United States (currently playing for the Charlotte Hornets, just renewed his contract for 3 years and 7500 million in 17 years.), his style and body, crushing his peers, only because he missed two games, causing the school to lag behind Ansted High School in the rankings. (In college, he and Jaren Jackson formed a Michigan double wing, one focusing on offense and the other focusing on strength, and were considered the strongest defensive combination in the th NCAA.)
There was only one team from Wisconsin, that was Notre Dame High School. The little guy Tremont Waters (who was just cut by the Shanghai Sharks, I won’t go into details about his experience.) was known as the Iverson of Wisconsin. He had explosive scoring ability and was unstoppable.

Two high schools from Ohio also came, namely Lincoln High School and Wilmington High School.

Finally, there is Missouri, Chaminade High School, and their old rival, Missouri Preparatory High School.

As the host, Missouri Prep High School has always been a long-established powerhouse team in Missouri. This year, under the leadership of Porter Jr. (Porter Jr. needs no introduction, he is a piece of the Nuggets championship puzzle. He was still in Missouri in his senior year, and transferred to Nathan Hale High School coached by the yellow Mamba Roy in his senior year. According to a later interview, he said that he felt that after Tatum was gone, Missouri had no challenges, so he went to Seattle. Of course, there was also the element of Roy's door-to-door recruitment. It was also under Roy's guidance that his strength improved by leaps and bounds, and he became the strongest high school student in the United States in 2017, winning all the awards - 17 Naismith High School Athlete of the Year, 17 McDonald's All-Star Game MVP, 17 Gatorade Athlete of the Year, 17 American Basketball Player of the Year), he is bound to compete with Chaminade where Tatum is.

Michael Porter Jr., who is considered to be the strongest high school student in Missouri next year, is seen as the second to Tatum in terms of both physical condition and technology. He has attracted widespread media attention, and their competition has always been the focus of this invitational tournament.

With the Red Devils' current strong performance, it has attracted more and more attention. Tickets for the Red Devils and the Blue Moon Team of Missouri Prep High School have long been sold out.

Each of these 12 high schools has four- to five-star high school students with ESPN ratings over 90. As the best invitational tournament in the Midwest, the media and attention it has attracted are already top-notch in the second tier in the United States.

Jaren Jackson, Porter Jr., Tatum, and Miles Bridges were selected by the organizers as the four major stars of this poster, which was hung in the main court and attracted everyone's attention.

It has to be said that each of the 4 states in the United States has its own stars, and all of them have the opportunity to enter the NBA, just like the four people selected this time, who all became NBA players in the future, and some of them are champion-level players. (But through this data verification, I found that not many of the 16.17 high school students in the United States in 200 and entered the NBA. Currently, only these few are still here, which shows that the threshold of the NBA is very high. I am also impressed by the sports novels about the NBA. After reading a few of them, I feel that entering the NBA is as easy as drinking water.)
After arriving in Kansas City, the team went to the hotel booked by the organizer to rest. Tatum, as the top star, also had to participate in the pre-match activities set up by the organizer to warm up for the event.

Bennett thoughtfully arranged for Chen Fang and Lu Yun to stay in the same standard room. Chen Fang was still reading a book. After Lu Yun came out of the shower, he asked, "Don't you want to go out for a walk?"

"Anything you can recommend?" Chen Fang asked without even raising his head.

Since that conversation, the two have not discussed similar topics again, as if it was just a dream.

"All 12 teams are in this hotel, let's just do some spying?" Lu Yun was joking. He really didn't have anything good to recommend, but he didn't want to stay in the room.

"It's too cold. I don't want to go out." Chen Fang disagreed. He knew all the people on the poster. He could only say that the organizer had good vision.

"What? Are you sulking? Are you upset that the organizer didn't include you in the poster?"

"Not really, they are all talented people!" Chen Fang really thought so in his heart. He also knew that since the idea of going to Duke was given up, the more important thing next was his performance and focus in the team.

How can you ensure that your performance will not be looked down upon by others?

Tatum's presence can make things easy for me, but at the same time it means that without him, it would be difficult for me to have the ability to crush others at the national level.

Many high schools now abandon the single-core idea and adopt dual-core or even pile up more stars to compete for the current popularity.

As the saying goes, two fists cannot beat four hands. Take the team participating in this competition, Parker Tudor High School, for example. In Chen Fang's opinion, this team should be the biggest opponent. There are two players with a score of more than 90 in the team lineup, which is very scary. And with a group of players with a score of more than , it is no wonder that such a team can run rampant in Indiana, which is known as a bloody battlefield.

At the same time, the Missouri Blue Moon team from the same state should not be underestimated. The 208-cm-tall Porter is physically better than all of them. Although his skills are not comprehensive yet, he moves fast, has a three-point shot, and can defeat a group of black and tough players.

Chen Fang didn't know much about the other teams, but they were all well-known teams, so Chen Fang dared not underestimate them.

It will start the day after tomorrow and the competition system is already known.

There are 4 groups, each with three teams. After playing one game, the points ranking will be determined. The top 4 teams in each group will enter the upper half, and the remaining eight teams will fight against each other to become the top 4 in the lower half.

Next, the upper half will play against the lower half in a single elimination match, and the final four will compete based on their records to determine the champion.

Theoretically, it is reasonable for a team to play 4-5 games in a week.

After experiencing the World Youth Championship, Chen Fang is very clear that in youth-level competitions, holding one game a day is a normal competition system.

After all, everyone is very busy. Good teams fly all over the United States to train the team, increase the exposure of stars, and also increase income.

Various sports in the United States have reasonably integrated money and performance. Even if you are not a core player, as long as you are in the rotation, the money you earn by playing with the team in a year will be enough for you to pay for college.

Therefore, no one will refuse to join a strong team, because even if there is not much playing time, what you get is far more cost-effective than being a starter in a remote area.

Chen had talked with Murphy and others from Team B during his free time during training, and had just learned that they were the core members of their original teams before coming to Chaminade, and their scholarships and treatment were not any worse than they are now.

The only difference is the league level.

Everyone's answers were similar, with Murphy's words being the most representative: "If you want to improve your own strength, you should find a stronger team. Even if you don't get much playing time, at least the team's training matches are much better than playing in a lower-level league."

That's basically what I mean. The three years between the ages of 16 and 18 are the stage in which one can improve the fastest, and the pace of one's development should keep pace with that of the body. If one's skills and abilities cannot keep up with the pace of physical development, that will undoubtedly spell the end of one's basketball career.

Theo is more straightforward. He thinks that the exposure he gets from playing in a strong team will help him get some good university offers. This is very important. For Americans, being able to avoid college fees is the biggest victory in their life journey. Because most college students take out loans to study, and then spend several years or even longer to pay back the loan with interest after graduation.

This means that people are still in absolute debt in their thirties, which is undoubtedly a huge shadow.

Compared to ordinary students, those who specialize in sports have it easier and have more choices. They can find jobs as teachers or coaches in primary, middle and high schools, and have better options if they have some fame in college.

The investment a country spends on sports is by no means wasted, but will generate a steady stream of money.

The key is how to ensure the country's investment and use it correctly. (Although the investment in the three major sports in China is not as much as that in the United States, it is not less than that in Europe. The investment in campus sports in 23 years is 722 billion, which is billion US dollars. I really don't know where this money has been spent, what effect it has, and what kind of foundation it has laid for the next year.)
NCAA March Madness attracts RMB 21 billion in 70 days. It happens once a year and the amount increases year by year.

这些钱具体来自签约转播和广告，在与CBS和特纳续签8年88亿美元的合约后，疯狂三月的电视合同是2011年至2032年总计196亿美元，平均每年9.3亿美元！
Because of this, players who play basketball in American high schools and NCAA have purer thinking.

This refreshed Chen Fang's inherent thinking. In his mind, in a team, except for the stars, everyone else was a prop, contributing to someone's ascension. If it were him, he might not be willing or active.

But after this conversation, Chen Fang realized that, in fact, for them, they were the group that hoped that the stars on the team would be stronger.

Even more than the coaches and school directors.

That is to say, when Chen Fang demonstrated his strength, everyone automatically came closer without any words.

They will take care of all the dirty work and the younger brother's responsibilities, and you just need to focus on leading the team forward.

Such a starting point is in the interests of everyone, so when Chen Fang is willing to be the second in command, Murphy and others have no objection, because they are loyal to the team, not individuals.

I come from afar to play basketball just to have less hardships and twists and turns in life, just like what Hyde really said.

"I don't want to be in debt. I want to get married right after graduation and have a bunch of kids. That's what I want!"

As a Mexican with the same family traditions as the Chinese, Hyde hopes to live a peaceful life. If you can help him in this goal, he will do anything for you without hesitation.

Logan's thoughts were equally pure. As a man from the Bahamas, he didn't want to live a life on that island with an insurmountable gap between the upper and lower classes, nor did he want to find out one day that he had AIDS.

Just escape, put down roots in the United States, and live a decent life.

"I don't think too far ahead. I'm very satisfied with the present and I have confidence in myself. I believe that there will be coaches who will appreciate the role I play on the court. No one can predict what will happen in the future. Just take care of yourself and do well now." Logan said with a simple smile. On this honest face, you won't find any clues of a stadium thief.

Deeply inspired by chatting with these key members of Team B, Chen Fang no longer felt the anger he had been feeling these days.

Compared to them, I am undoubtedly in a better situation. Why should I get angry about something that is destined to never be brought to the table?

Seeing that Chen Fang was unwilling to go out, Lu Yun had to give up. He returned to bed and took out his cell phone to look at it.

Chen Fang was also a little embarrassed, so he found a new topic: "By the way, where is Wu Zhen?"

"Los Angeles."

“Is Los Angeles the place with the most Chinese people?”

"Almost the same. People from the East Coast and the West Coast basically don't come to the Central Region like we do."

"What's the situation of the league in Los Angeles?" Chen Fang asked casually, but Lu Yun thought too much and put down his phone and said seriously: "The quality of schools on the east and west coasts is definitely better than other places."

"Every year, the East and West Coasts account for the majority of ESPN's ratings, and both software and hardware are top-notch."

"Wu Zhen chose a 6A league, and the situation was not very good. The team coach did not trust him, so he could only continue to use training to exchange for more playing time."

Lu Yun sighed: "So, it's a miracle that you were able to gain a foothold so quickly."

"Adventure?" Chen Fang pondered over this sentence.

"If I continue to stay until January next year and then transfer to Wu Zhen's school, maybe my status will be higher than his." Lu Yun said something that was very illogical but it seemed to come true after thinking about it.

"It's very difficult to gain a foothold in the United States, especially in sports." The more Lu Yun learned, the more he realized the difficulty. Now he was a little worried about Chen Fang.

"Ding!" The subscribed sports box sent a push notification. Chen Fang picked it up and took a look, then handed it to Lu Yun.

"The groups are out, and we are in the third group with Lincoln High School and Notre Dame High School."

As one of the four seeded teams, the Chaminade Red Devils are in Group 4. If they win both games, they will move into the top half and wait for the top four in the bottom half.

"You don't have to worry about me. I have to make a name for myself in this invitational tournament."

Chen Fang had a blank expression on his face, as if he wasn't talking about himself.

"My goal has always been EYBL, and I want to compete with the four people on the poster to see how far we can go."

"It's almost the end of the month, and I want to put an end to 2015."

Lu Yun didn't respond and lowered his eyelids silently.

Chen Fang has changed, there is a gleam in the depth of his eyes.

　I'm asking for trouble. To make it more realistic, the information I search for often takes longer than writing. Take today's content for example. I searched from last night to this afternoon to confirm that there was nothing missing. I went through the 16.17-100 ESPN T list to find the famous players in the Midwest, select this invitational tournament, and construct the tool man for this plot. I'm really painstaking for the slow update today, please forgive me!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)