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WORDS. Terrence Payne Zena Edosomwan TOP: NHM SCHOOL; BOTTOM: COURTESY OF ZENA EDOSOMWAN Te Harvard men's basketball team received notable attention in 2011-12 and rightfully so. Tommy Amaker and his Crimson team cracked the top-25 en route to winning the school's frst Ivy League title and earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. In New York, Harvard-grad Jeremy Lin spent nights sleeping on his brother or teammate's couches while making the Knicks front page stories and taking Madison Square Garden by storm. Yet one storyline not outshined by the rest of the Harvard hype was the commitment of consensus top-100 recruit, Zena Edosomwan. At 6-8, the California native picked Harvard over almost 40 other suitors, including the likes of UCLA, USC and Texas. How exactly did Harvard land one of the best players in the country? It all began during Edosomwan's sophomore season in high school when he met Harvard assistant coach, Yanni Hufnagel. At the time Edosomwan had yet to break out as a high-major recruit. Despite his rise in the rankings, Hufnagel never stopped recruiting the physical power forward, and Edosomwan liked the coach's energy and passion. "We kept in touch, but honestly I was not going to go," says Edosomwan. "I was so intent on going to a big-time school. "Basically, when I cut down my list to fve, they were in there because of him. They were the bottom of that fve." By his senior season at Harvard Westlake School (Calif.), Edosomwan had offers from USC, UCLA, Texas, Washington, Wake Forest, and California. At one point, Edosomwan intended on playing for one of the West Coach's big-time programs, and narrowed his options down to USC and Cal. Still, the Crimson stayed in the mix. "I don't even know how they were able to do it," says Edosomwan. "They just chipped away at me. "They kept talking about their vision there and I slowly started to buy into it. When I went on my visit, it really changed everything." Excited at the thought of her son going to one of the country's elite universities, Edosomwan's mother encouraged him to go on the visit. Once there, he admits, "I got this feeling as soon as I landed in Boston like it was the place for me." Still, Edosomwan wrestled with his decision. At times, it became overbearing. With constant questions from fellow students to Facebook messages asking where he would end up, he needed time to think. Edosomwan's decision took until the spring, around the same time the basketball team started receiving national attention and the Linsanity takeover in NYC. "That was a huge factor," he says. "I saw 27 the rise of Jeremy Lin and Harvard make the top 25. It was just everything was mixing together. It felt like I belonged. It was perfect timing." Edosomwan offcially picked Harvard on March 11, 2012. It was Selection Sunday, and he watched as Harvard got that longawaited tourney bid. However, Edosomwan received mixed reviews following his choice. Some were baffed he passed up big-time college ball for the Ivy League. Ironically, some even considered him stupid for going to Harvard. "There was a lot of criticism I got," he says. "But, then there were other people who were like 'Unbelievable. I'm proud of you, man.'" What's even more incredible is that Edosomwan chose Harvard despite knowing he needed a year at prep school to qualify academically for the 2013-2014 season. He's spending this year in New England at Northfeld Mount Hermon School (Mass.). But the extra year really doesn't bother Edosomwan at all. "Zena's a different guy," said Northfeld Mount Hermon coach John Carroll. "He looks at life way behind himself as an athlete. He's a really big picture guy and he knows at Harvard he can do that." If there is a place for players to get ready for the Ivy League, it's NMH. In fve years, Carroll has sent 18 players to Ivies. On this year's team, four will be going to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth. Yet no player rated as highly as Edosomwan has picked the Ivy League. Even as the Ivy League became more competitive over the years, he's still one of the frst to turn down bigger schools in hopes of gaining a better education. "I think this isn't an anomaly, it's a trend," said Carroll. "You're going to see this decision happen more and more, where higher level kids chose a high level of academics to go along with basketball." An unlikely string of events brought Edosomwan to pick Harvard, and now he's just going along with it. "It's pretty cool," said Edosomwan. "It's amazing how everything works."