College Basketball: How Good Was Jeremy Lin at Harvard?

How good was Jeremy Lin in college?

If he is tearing it up at Madison Square Garden, he must've been awesome at Harvard, right?

Was there any foreshadowing that the 6'3" guard from Palo Alto would some day go "Linsane"?

Let's take a lightning-fast look at Lin's collegiate career.

We can see the year-by-year progression of how he did while playing for the Crimson.

Lin 1.0 (Freshman Year)

Lin's freshman season (2006-07) was a fairly standard first year.

He averaged an ordinary 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1 steal per game.

Lin shot 41.5 percent from the field, 81.8 percent from the line and 28.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Harvard went 12-16 (5-9 Ivy)

Lin 2.0 (Sophomore Year)

Lin's collegiate career took a big step forward as he moved into his sophomore season.

He doubled most of his averages. He went from

• Scoring 4.8 ppg to 12.6 ppg
• Grabbing 2.5 rpg to 4.8 rpg
• Handing out 1.8 apg to 3.6 apg
• Snatching 1 spg to 1.9 spg

Lin's game was getting better, but the Crimson were not.

Harvard went 8-22 (3-11 Ivy League) his sophomore season.

Lin 3.0 (Junior Year)

Lin's game improved again as he moved into his junior year.

He now averaged 17.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.3 apg and 2.4 spg.

Lin shot 50.2 percent from the field, 74.4 percent from the line and 40 percent from beyond the arc.

One of the aspects of Lin's game that draws the most criticism now, however, was evident in his performance as a collegiate player.

Lin's assist-to-turnover ratio during his junior season was a mediocre 1.13, which means he had almost as many turnovers (106) as he had assists (109).

As Lin kept moving forward, the Crimson program made some modest strides forward too.

Harvard went 14-14 (6-8 Ivy League) in 2008-09

Lin 4.0 (Senior Year)

As a senior, Lin was one of 11 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, an annual award given to the top collegiate point guard.

Also on the list were Scottie Reynolds (Villanova), Jon Scheyer (Duke), Greivis Vasquez (Maryland) and John Wall (Kentucky).

As a senior, Lin averaged 16.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.5 apg and 2.4 apg.

Lin's aggressive style and ability to get into the lane is one of the reasons why he shoots a lot of free throws.

As a senior, Lin averaged 6.8 attempts per game while shooting 75.5 percent from the line.

Lin's best game as a collegiate came against Kemba Walker and the UConn Huskies.

He led the Crimson in every major statistical category, scoring 30 points, grabbing nine rebounds, handing out three assists, snatching three steals and blocking two shots in a six-point loss.

While his personal stats dipped slightly from his junior year to senior year, Lin helped Harvard to a 21-8 (10-4 Ivy League).

Did Anyone Know That All of This Was Going to Happen?

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

As you have seen, Jeremy Lin had a very good college career.

While no one knew that Lin would take the NBA by storm, there's at least one person who wrote something before now who threw out the possibility of Lin making it in the Association.

Read about The Delivery Guy Who Saw Jeremy Lin Coming.