Chapter 817 - 29 Gloves_2

Because his grades were too poor, he was very likely not to get an invitation from an NCAA school. When schools came to scout him, they found this guy to be like a vagrant, liking to wear diamond earrings, chewing gum, always shaving letters like $ and other symbols into his hair, with a perpetual crooked mouth putting on a very pretentious look.

But Payton’s performance on the court was impeccable, and many schools were interested in him, yet hesitated because of his off-court behavior.

St. John’s University had promised him a scholarship but ultimately went back on their word and gave it to another player.

Afterward, Payton still received invites from prestigious schools like North Carolina and Stanford, but in the end, he chose Oregon State.

Ralph Miller, the coach of the Oregon State Beavers, personally called Payton to recruit him and told him, "Ah Gan recommended you to me, he said this kid from Oakland plays well."

Payton didn’t expect Gan Guoyang to recommend him to Ralph Miller.

Oregon State University is located in Portland. In 1984, Gonzaga University came to Portland to play in the Far West Classic Tournament, and in the finals, they defeated the Oregon State Beavers.

Gan Guoyang was invincible in the universities of the Northwest Region, casting a huge shadow over the schools in the Oregon and Washington State area in a single season.

Gonzaga University ended the legendary season with a perfect record, winning the NCAA Championship before Ah Gan left, giving these teams a chance to breathe at last.

The Oregon State Beavers is the most popular basketball team in the Portland area, besides the Trail Blazers. Gan Guoyang knew their coach, and by chance, he heard they were interested in recruiting a student from Oakland named Payton, but hesitated because of his grades and behavior.

When Gan Guoyang saw Payton’s information, he immediately remembered who he was and strongly recommended this "fellow townsman" to Ralph Miller.

At that time, Gan Guoyang had just led the Trail Blazers to an NBA championship, his reputation in the Oregon area was unmatched, and the player he recommended was naturally reliable.

The reason he did not recommend Payton to his alma mater Gonzaga was that Gonzaga is a Catholic school, and a player like Payton would definitely not fit in or meet the school’s requirements.

Moreover, Bobby Berman was coaching at Gonzaga at that time, and Gan Guoyang could not imagine what would happen if Payton ended up under Beelman, wondering how their vocabulary would expand after four years of swearing at each other.

So, Gary Payton came to Oregon, to Portland, to the basketball kingdom of Ah Gan, to study, play, and watch basketball under the watchful eye of the basketball emperor of Oregon.

Gradually, the two became more familiar with each other, and in every game held at Memorial Coliseum, among the more than 20 tickets that Gan Guoyang got from the ticket center, there was often one for Gary Payton.

Watching Ah Gan dominate the NBA, Payton also dominated the basketball courts of Oregon State University, quickly growing into the team’s core and becoming a point guard excellent in both offense and defense.

Especially his defense, under Ralph Miller’s meticulous coaching, became extremely aggressive, coupled with his relentless trash-talking during games, Payton became one of the most deadly guards in the Pacific-10 Conference.

In the 1986-1987 season, as a freshman, Gary Payton won the Pacific-10 Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year—this was the year Ah Gan successfully defended the NBA championship, gained the regular season MVP, and obtained back-to-back titles.

In the 1987-1988 season, as a sophomore, Gary Payton was selected for the All-America team, the Pacific-10 Conference’s best lineup, and was chosen for the American Journalists Association’s District 8’s best lineup—this was the year Ah Gan led the Trail Blazers to complete a three-peat achievement, donned the yellow robe, and swept up the honors.

In his junior year, Gary Payton became the absolute core of the team leading in scoring (21.8 points), assists (8.1), steals (3), and minutes played (38), ranking second in rebounds and blocks as a point guard, his versatility is unquestionable.

Ah Gan went through a relatively unsuccessful season in his career but still made it to the Western Conference Finals, while Oregon State continued to be eliminated in the first round of the national championship.

In the 1989-1990 season, Payton’s last year with the Beavers, he became the deserved All-Star of the Pacific-10 and became another guard since 1971 of the Pacific-10 to score over 40 points in a single game.

That year against the University of Tennessee he scored 39 points, against Loyola-Marymount University (the offense-crazed team coached by Paul Westhead) he scored 48 points, and defeated Stanford University with 30 points and 13 assists.

In summary, he had an outstanding year that attracted nationwide attention, was named the best college player of the year by "Sports Illustrated", and NBA teams threw olive branches at him, with the Seattle SuperSonics considering taking him with the second overall pick.

And this year, Ah Gan redeemed himself, securing his fourth championship ring, achieving the great feat of four championships in six years, becoming Portland’s true basketball totem.

So, it could be said that Payton’s four-year college career was quite spectacular, but he always lived in the shadow of Ah Gan’s glory; in the Oregon area, the Beavers were just an appetizer, while the Trail Blazers were the staple main course.

What Payton didn’t expect was that he would be selected by the Seattle SuperSonics at the number two spot.

Seattle and Portland always had a "irreconcilable" competitive relationship. Now, Payton was essentially going to an opposing city.

This made Payton rather frustrated, but then Ah Gan told him, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Playing basketball is the same everywhere, you need to be fully engaged. Seattle is a good city; the Supersonics are a good team."