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| CHRIS TANG: Class of 2014 |
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Written by: Cameron Smith & Prospect-Central
It's been almost one month since Asian-American Jeremy Lin literally took over the sports world. He burst onto the scene on February 4th, with an outstanding performance against Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets and he hasn't looked back since. It's safe to say that "Linsanity" is not just for basketball lovers. It's a cultural phenomenon that has spread across the world at an alarming rate.
Lin has been compared to Denver Bronco's quarterback Tim Tebow because of his humbleness and unexpected success as well as NBA's future Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash because of his basketball IQ and uncanny point guard abilities. While I tend to disagree with the Tebow comparisons, I do see some similarities with Lin & Nash. Because everyone is occupied with trying to figure out who Jeremy Lin reminds them of, no one seems to be interested in finding the "NEXT" Jeremy Lin....until now of course.
Meet Chris Tang. The 6-foot 3, fifteen year-old sophomore has been tearing up Virginia high school basketball for well over a year now and he doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Last year as a freshman, Tang averaged a solid 17.0 ppg, 3.8 apg & 4.8 rpg for Hampton Roads Academy and this year he is averaging over 20 ppg, including a ridiculous 41 & 42 point performance earlier in the year.
Chris Tang is from China and has been living in the United States since the 8th grade. He plays his AAU ball for the talented Boo Williams squad and is being heavily recruited by Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland & Davidson. Jeremy Lin's alma mater Harvard is interested as well. Obviously Chris Tang is receiving Jeremy Lin comparisons because they are both of Asian descent, but if you watch Tang play, they share much more than ethnicity. While the world is caught up in "Linsanity", Chris Tang is steadily honing his craft. And maybe one day he'll be the NEXT Asian sensation. * Below is a video from Scoutsfocus followed by an article from Yahoo Sports.
* According to his host family in Williamsburg, Virginia, Chris Tang is headed to the #1 high school basketball team in the country for his junior year...Oak Hill Academy!!!
Written by: Cameron Smith & Prospect-Central
It's been almost one month since Asian-American Jeremy Lin literally took over the sports world. He burst onto the scene on February 4th, with an outstanding performance against Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets and he hasn't looked back since. It's safe to say that "Linsanity" is not just for basketball lovers. It's a cultural phenomenon that has spread across the world at an alarming rate.
Lin has been compared to Denver Bronco's quarterback Tim Tebow because of his humbleness and unexpected success as well as NBA's future Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash because of his basketball IQ and uncanny point guard abilities. While I tend to disagree with the Tebow comparisons, I do see some similarities with Lin & Nash. Because everyone is occupied with trying to figure out who Jeremy Lin reminds them of, no one seems to be interested in finding the "NEXT" Jeremy Lin....until now of course.
Meet Chris Tang. The 6-foot 3, fifteen year-old sophomore has been tearing up Virginia high school basketball for well over a year now and he doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Last year as a freshman, Tang averaged a solid 17.0 ppg, 3.8 apg & 4.8 rpg for Hampton Roads Academy and this year he is averaging over 20 ppg, including a ridiculous 41 & 42 point performance earlier in the year.
Chris Tang is from China and has been living in the United States since the 8th grade. He plays his AAU ball for the talented Boo Williams squad and is being heavily recruited by Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland & Davidson. Jeremy Lin's alma mater Harvard is interested as well. Obviously Chris Tang is receiving Jeremy Lin comparisons because they are both of Asian descent, but if you watch Tang play, they share much more than ethnicity. While the world is caught up in "Linsanity", Chris Tang is steadily honing his craft. And maybe one day he'll be the NEXT Asian sensation. * Below is a video from Scoutsfocus followed by an article from Yahoo Sports.
* According to his host family in Williamsburg, Virginia, Chris Tang is headed to the #1 high school basketball team in the country for his junior year...Oak Hill Academy!!!
There may be a simmering diplomatic battle between China and Taiwan in trying to claim the allegiance and origin of budding Knicks star Jeremy Lin, but there's no debate about where the next Asian guard to crack the basketball scene hails from: He is Chinese, and he is a spectacular, under-the-radar prospect tearing up the mid-Atlantic prep hoops scene. And, just like Lin, this budding star is getting interest from Harvard among other top college hoops programs.
Chris Tang is only a sophomore at Newport News (Va.) Hampton Roads Academy, but he is already one of the traditionally powerful prep program's most promising prospects. At 6-foot-3, Tang can man either guard position, but spends almost all his time for Hampton Roads as the team's point guard. Tang was an all-conference selection as a freshman and has already had performances in which he scored 41 and 42 points … as a 15-year-old high school sophomore.
That's just where the comparisons to Lin begin, and there are plenty of reasons for them, too. As you can see in the highlight reel above, Tang has much of the same exceptional court vision of Lin. He is equally adept at cutting into the lane, taking the game to opposing defenses with aplomb.
What Tang may have as an advantage over Lin is his sheer athleticism. While Lin is an impressive athlete, Tang definitely has more vertical ability and a particularly disproportionate amount of agility and speed when compared with other high school sophomores.
He also has a serious shot that should make him a strong prospect for his versatility in running the point or shooting from the perimeter.
While Lin slipped almost completely below the radar, it seems exceedingly unlikely that a similar fate will befall Tang, who has been living in Virginia with a foster family since arriving in the U.S. as an eighth-grader and is reportedly completely comfortable with life as an American teen.
The sophomore -- who is currently averaging more than 20 points per game -- also stars for the powerhouse Boo Williams AAU program on the summer circuit, where he has already caught the eye of recruiters from Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland and Davidson, among other schools. A strong academic candidate, Tang has also reportedly piqued the interest of Lin's alma mater Harvard.
It's hard to tell whether Tang's development will continue apace, or whether he can reach anywhere near the heights that Lin is now soaring toward. Still, the fact that he's beginning from a higher platform than Lin himself makes him a heck of a candidate to be the next Asian guard to crash the major American basketball scene. Original Article.
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