By now we all know of the heartfelt story of Knicks free agent PG Jeremy Lin and his meteoric rise from undrafted rookie playing for an Ivy League school at Harvard, to finally getting a chance at serious NBA minutes in New York, and making the most of it. He helped the Knickerbockers survive and actually thrive during the 2012 season, while Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire were MIA, nursing injuries. We were all witnesses to what was universally called the onset of Lin-sanity.
While Jeremy Lin’s rise to stardom seemingly came out of nowhere and will see him in high demand this off-season, could we possibly see a repeat performance from one of this past season’s best collegiate players that went undrafted?
Former University of Pennsylvania point guard Zack Rosen hopes so, as the former St. Benedict’s HS in New Jersey standout, 4 year starter, and Honorable Mention All-American will be trying to earn a spot on an NBA roster playing for the Philadelphia 76ers Summer League team this month.
Despite his physical stature as a token 6 foot nothing, caucasian ballplayer, with red hair to boot, he is not just a novelty that was given a spot on his local pro team’s summer squad, but rather an All-American caliber talent that was recognized as an Ivy League 1st Team performer, each of his 4 seasons at Penn. He was also a finalist for the 2012 Lowes Senior Class Award given out during Final Four weekend.
Despite playing in the Ivy League, the Penn Quakers have quite a successful hoops program, currently ranking as the 9th winning-est Division I program in the nation, especially in recent times under former head coach Fran Dunphy, now the head man at Temple. Zack now ranks among the program’s leaders in points, assists, and games played. During his illustrious career at Penn, Rosen dominated opposing Ivy League competition, earning three 1st team All Ivy League Selections, was named 2012 Ivy League POY, and was a finalist for the 2012 Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation’s top point guard.
Zack was one of the standouts at this year’s Portsmouth Invitational, an annual showcase of the nation’s best seniors that has helped promote the careers of future NBA stars like Scottie Pippen and John Stockton in years past. But due to a numbers game and many teams chosing to select International players late in Round 2 of the Draft to stash them in Europe, Rosen somehow slipped through the cracks on Draft day.
With a good showing in Orlando and Las Vegas, Rosen may have the best chance of sticking with the hometown 76ers as former backup point guard and team leading scorer Lou Williams has opted out of Philly and will seek employment elsewhere with Nick Young signing a 1 year tender. Rosen averaged 18.2 ppg, 5.1 assists, 1.4 steals, shot 40% from 3, and nearly 90% from the line in helping the Quakers advance to the 2nd Round of the CBI Tournament in March.
Check Out 2012 Ivy League POY Zack Rozen’s story:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
