Chapter 29: Illinois vs North Carolina (3) - Super Rookie
"Wow, that was a fantastic shot." A tall, dashing, and kind-looking Japanese man stood in ovation along with the many Illinois students already singing and shouting school chants after Jaylen Mitchell buried yet another three ball. He even joined in on the chants seamlessly, surprising some of the students around him.
If someone were an avid Illinois Fighting Illini fan, they would realize that this man was considered their school's rookie of the year two years prior.
He's left the school and college basketball altogether to focus on his ridiculous Astrophysics degree… in Harvard…
"Excuse me, are you Taichi Kawashima?" A tall girl with dark orange hair, and a face mask, asked from behind the man. She was wearing a long, knee-high dress.
When the people around them heard the sudden question, they glanced at the man wearing a Harvard cap and a bright, gentle face.
'Taichi Kawashima?' Everyone around the vicinity's memories were filled with a mix of happiness and regret when they heard that name.
"Oh… I'm caught…" Taichi felt a ticklish sensation. "Yeah… I'm Taichi…"
"Holy shit, I thought I'm just hallucinating! Why did you leave us, man?!" An Illinois alumnus asked while shaking his head in front of them.
"Are you really studying astrophysics at Harvard right now?" Another old lady that seemed like a professor asked.
"When will you return? We need you to complete our superteam!" A senior student who was a basketball junkie asked. He forgot the rules of NCAA basketball for a moment.
Taichi was not ready to answer a lot of things, but he did answer one of them. "Yes… I'm currently studying astrophysics at Harvard… However, that's not the only degree I'm gunning for. I'm also majoring in molecular biology."
The smile on Taichi's face when he talked about his double major was priceless.
All of them aren't focused on the game anymore. They were rather more interested in the man that was once the darling of the Illinois' basketball team.
But now, he's a student double majoring two impossible courses at Harvard… He quit basketball altogether, and took his genius to two of his other passions in life.
To these people, the most selfish thing they could do would be to ask him to stay, or return to basketball.
Because all of them now know that their resident kami has moved on in his life.
***
Jaylen Mitchell was on fire, to a point where no one would probably raise a brow if someone told them that the debuting freshman was a one man army tonight.
He scored the first 15 points of the second half, completely taking over the game and turning it into his own little playground. It was an absolutely disgusting fact that this nationally ranked team found out the hard way.
This was a freshman on his debut, but he was already dumpstering the entire North Carolina squad. 35 points in around 15 minutes of action is nothing less than sensational in any shape, way, or form.
Even Tremaine on the sidelines was impressed.
He never would've imagined that Jaylen would be this good once he's unleashed into the wild. Or rather, Tremaine would never have imagined that the Jaylen of this life would utterly humiliate the debut of the Jaylen in his first life.
Tremaine pieced together a sloppy memory in which Jaylen only scored 8 points in his debut, shooting bricks all over…
This was undoubtedly not a version of Jaylen to be trifled with.
What changed?
Could I have influenced it somehow?
The general level of play of this Illinois' team he remembered had improved by leaps and bounds. Every freshman felt a lot stronger than how he remembered them being, and even the upperclassmen had risen to the occasion.
Could my own improvement have spurred them on somehow?
Jaylen Mitchell was not done. If this was the game that sends him into the national consciousness, he's going to make the most out of it.
He blew by fellow rook Trent Powell with ease, whizzing past him like he's an immobile tree, attacking his left side at will. If a double team comes, he'll take care of it.
Jaylen was like a freight train, the other forward tried to swipe at him, but a simple evade and eurostep set him on his way to an open rim. Although Powell was still harassing him on the right, it was all too easy for him to throw this one down.
'If I don't improve, I won't be worth shit in the NBA.'
He absolutely abhorred how he played in last week's 3v3 in front of the scouts. He was trashed by both Dwayne, and fellow freshman Tremaine on multiple occasions.
Jaylen took that loss seriously. Because that was the same day Coach Roughan finalized his opening day rosters, and named him starter.
During the next week, he honed his skills for more than twelve hours a day using different mediums, skipping even some of his classes. He watched tape, he worked on his physical condition, he worked on his basketball skills, and did his due course in his mentality.
To most of the team, it was a final spurt before the season began, but to Jaylen, it was a punishment he put to himself for losing.
What a sore loser.
"This lineup is slowly becoming a death lineup in my eyes." Mart Albert was skeptical about this new, positionless lineup Coach Mike Roughan initiated, but it was growing on him.
Mitchell, Richardson, Evans, Thornton, and Ogwuzeni.
This lineup had stifled the North Carolina offense like a clamp in the first few minutes of the second half. Mitchell had already scored 17 points, while the entire Tar Heels' offense hadn't scored even a single point. Instead, what they got were 5 turnovers, and 4 of their shots blocked, by this rangy, aggressive lineup of death.
"That other 4-star rookie is not so bad as well." One female scout nudged his counterpart, who seemed uninterested about what's happening on the floor. "I'm starting to get annoyed at your movements."
"Why is the secret weapon not playing?" The younger scout asked.
"What the hell are you talking about? Just focus on the game!"
"Bollocks, he must be injured." The scout was disappointed. He's the one who piqued his interest the most in last week's visit. "Wait… he can't be! He's in the 15-man roster!"
"Let me tell you, this Tremaine Mills is the real deal. He just slapped Jaylen Mitchell into outer space in a 3v3! And the assistant coach also said he's their secret weapon!" The scout blabbered on, even spitting some saliva around.
"Who the fuck…"
In the background, Deshaun Richardson snatched the ball away from a Heels' guard, and bounced an outlet pass forward to Jaylen Mitchell, who then stopped right outside the arc.
With an aura of absolute confidence, he popped a three point shot instead of finishing an easy jam.
At this current point in time, no one inside the stadium believed he'll miss.
40 points.
***
Extras:
"Kawashima-san, do you happen to know this guy?" The orange haired lady tapped Taichi's shoulders from behind, and handed him a student identification card.
"Tremaine Mills?" Kawashima read it out slowly. Somehow, he had heard this guy's name several times before. However he said, "Nope. Am I supposed to know him?"
"I don't know, I just thought he could be from the basketball team… he said he was one." It was her honest thoughts. "Never mind that. Enjoy the game."
She just realized that what she asked was futile… since this guy wasn't a student here for two years now…
'How could you forget that, Yuna?' She blushed.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Konkey_Dong
Konkey_Dong Damn I never realized that I'm close to a month of daily updates... and I only missed like a day or two... wow... I can't even do like three or four in my football novel before I lost it...
Anyhow, thanks y'all! I'm close to 10 reviews, and I'm still trying to figure out why people can't send power stones, but I'm trying my best!
Thank y'all for reading!
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