“Coach [Amaker] always says, ‘Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready,’” Casey said. “So I just stepped in and did what I was supposed to do.”
“The reason why he had success was, well, one, he’s extremely talented and developed in skills, especially for a freshman,” Lin said. “More importantly, he’s very humble and a hard worker, and that goes a long way. Everyone could see him develop and grow as a player.”
By season’s end, Casey had become not only the best freshman in the Ivy League, but one of the conference’s top players.
Athletic and industrious, it appears that the sky’s the limit for this rookie.
“He’s going to be the face of the program next year, and he’s going to break a lot of records,” Lin predicted. “Harvard’s really lucky to have a player like him.”
—Staff writer Timothy J. Walsh can be reached at tjwalsh@fas.harvard.edu.