Myles Che had always worn a No. 12 jersey on the basketball court.
It was his number during high school in his hometown of Los Angeles. That was still the case after he made a cross-country move to the Atlanta area to be part of a prep/postgraduate program at The Skill Factory.
Twelve is all he knew.
So when the 6-foot-2, 190-pound point guard got to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga this past summer, having signed as a three-star recruit, there was a problem: 12 was already taken by sophomore wing Johnny Taylor Jr. Taylor has since transferred to East Mississippi Community College, but at the time, Che had a decision to make.
Forced to break personal tradition, Che chose 77 — a number that was different not just for Che but college basketball in general. This past summer, the NCAA updated its rules to allow any jersey numbers from 0 to 99, ending a decades-long ban on those in the 60s and up.
But why 77?
Initially unsure what number to choose, Che, called his parents. They didn’t have an answer exactly, but in Asian culture there are numbers that could be considered off limits, or at least unfavorable for association, due to the pronunciation being similar to other words. For example, because the pronunciation of “four” is nearly identical to the Chinese word for death, that eliminated any number with that figure in it. Still, there are other numbers considered lucky or popular, such as eight (which has a pronunciation similar to rich), three (for its similarity to three stages of life: birth, marriage and death), five and nine.
Those were options for Che, but his parents — Jeff, a former Southern California football player, and Wayla — reminded their son about Jeremy Lin, the Taiwanese-American basketball star from California who went viral during the 2011-12 NBA season. The Harvard grad’s seemingly overnight success as he helped lead a turnaround for the New York Knicks became the phenomenon dubbed “Linsanity.”
Che and his father were eager viewers as it all unfolded.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / UTC point guard Myles Che, right, defends as Tennessee Wesleyan’s Amauri Young dribbles during Sunday’s game at McKenzie Arena.‘Big thing for us’
During his journeyman career in the NBA, Lin always wore No. 7 or 17, so it made sense for Che to emulate an athlete who was so culturally important.
“When I was a kid, me and my dad would sit at home and watch those games,” Che said. “I would just keep hearing his name, ‘Linsanity, Linsanity,’ he was going crazy. We watched him against the Raptors where he hit the game-winning shot. Just seeing him on the court, it gave me confidence. Seeing somebody who looks like me, somebody who is like a role model for us, he’s killing it, he’s doing his thing, so that was inspiration.”
Lin was the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. And while Lin was preceded by Yao Ming, the Shanghai native who left China to become the No. 1 pick of the 2022 draft and star for the Houston Rockets over the next decade, Che isn’t a 7-6 center, so Yao Ming — while inspirational in his own way — wasn’t going to work.
“It takes one person,” Che said. “Once people realize and can actually envision their dreams are closer than they think and they actually have a shot, it changes things. I feel like that was what really gave me confidence, watching Jeremy play gave me so much confidence in myself and what I could do on the court because I felt like I played just like him, and he’s doing the same stuff against NBA players. I felt like as long as I worked hard and did what I’m supposed to do, I can go out there and do the same thing.
“Having that kind of role model, having that kind of person where the image he holds is so high, I feel that for Asian kids and Asian basketball players in general, it was a big thing for us.”
It also doesn’t hurt that seven is a lucky number in Chinese culture. Rather than use a number worn by Lin, though, Che felt he had to pay homage to a role model while also putting his own personal spin on the selection, thus 77.
It’s a number that has provided some luck so far in what has been an up-and-down season for UTC’s starting point guard, who broke out with a 22-point performance in an eight-point win at Louisville on Nov. 11 and has averaged 10 points and 2.4 assists per game this season — but has also struggled with turnovers at times and hasn’t shot the ball particularly well lately for the Mocs (6-3), who after a 4-0 start lost three of their next four games.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / UTC coach Dan Earl talks to freshman point guard Myles Che during a timeout on Nov. 19 at McKenzie Arena, where the Mocs hosted Tennessee Tech.Adapt and adjust
As with any athlete, it’s natural to expect some good moments and some bad moments for Che.
But no matter how the statistics and on-court results are trending, the expectation for him is that he’s going to compete, that he won’t back down when things get difficult. That’s one of the first things second-year Mocs head coach Dan Earl and his staff liked about Che once he got into the program, which already included some older guards who had college experience even before arriving at UTC.
For one, there’s Honor Huff, a sophomore who transferred from Virginia Military Institute ahead of the 2022-23 season, sat out because of Southern Conference rules, and is now leading the Mocs in scoring (16.9 points per game) and assists (2.8); he paid Che a compliment after the Louisville game when he said, “Myles is a problem, man.” Then there’s senior Trey Bonham, who is currently sitting this season out as a two-time transfer — from VMI to Florida to UTC — but must be reckoned with in practice.
When it comes to that steady effort, Che said that’s just how he was raised. He went from 5-1 as a high school freshman to 5-6 a year later, so he had to compete in every drill every day at practice just in hopes of being seen. He also referred to his physique at the time as “flabby,” though, so at The Skill Factory, he dedicated himself to the weight room to change his shape and give himself a chance.
“My dad always instilled in me: You play and you play hard,” he said. “Once I got to prep school, once I came here, my colors and everything showed a little bit, cameras around, people are familiar with my game a little bit more, so that’s where the chip comes from. From when I was a kid playing in the background with my brother (Owen, who is 21), I’ve just never felt like I got what I truly deserved or what I worked for.
“Now I’m at the college level, and it’s going to take me a little bit of time to adjust and develop, but at the same time, I’ve got to go out there and play with that chip. I have to believe I’m the best player on the court, so that’s what I’ve tried to do. That’s what my coaches instilled in me when I got to prep school, so I just try to bring that mindset in everything I do.”
As for the Mocs’ recent struggles, some of their woes were alleviated in their most recent game, Sunday’s 112-51 home win over Tennessee Wesleyan, an NAIA program. They’ll get a better idea in their final four games of the calendar year — at Alabama A&M on Saturday, home against Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, then on the road against Milwaukee (Dec. 22) and Auburn (Dec. 30) — before tipping off their SoCon schedule Jan. 3 at Samford.
It might just be the natural progression of a young team led by a freshman point guard. But he’s growing and competing and giving himself — and the Mocs — a chance.
“This road has been a blessing, but it’s also been tough at the same time,” Che said. “I can’t sit here and be like, ‘It’s easy.’ I’ve had nights the last couple of weeks where it’s been tough because you’re trying to think about what you could have done better in the games, even communicating with coaches and trying to get on the same page. Everybody at this level wants what’s best for them but also at the same time wants what’s best for the team. Everybody wants to win.
“It’s been a hard adjustment, but I know that’s how it’s going to be, so I’ve just got to ride this roller coaster, I’ve just got to take it as it is. Day by day, we’re going to have bad days, especially as a team. We’re not going to be perfect, we’re not going to be undefeated. We’re going to take some on the chin. We just have to keep working hard every day we get in the gym and we’ll be fine.”
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / UTC redshirt sophomore Randy Brady, who prepped at Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, has been named the SoCon’s scholar-athlete of the week.Mocs’ Brady honored
UTC guard/forward Randy Brady, a redshirt sophomore from Chattanooga and Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, was selected as the SoCon student-athlete of the week, the league announced Wednesday.
Brady is the first UTC men’s basketball player to receive the honor since Malachi Smith on Nov. 24, 2021, according to a release from the program. He is the program’s third player overall to receive the award, which dates to the 2002-03 season, with Eric Robertson doing so twice, first as a sophomore in 2013-14 and again the following season.
During the Mocs’ most recent game, Brady tied his career high in points (11) and set a career high in rebounds (12) for his first double-double at UTC. Brady, who is pursuing a degree in finance-investments, has a 3.3 overall GPA and made the Academic All-SoCon team for the most recent spring semester.
This is the fourth time this school year a UTC athlete has been named SoCon student-athlete of the week, with Brady joining Paige Gallentine (volleyball), who was honored in September, and Lesley Green-Boyd (cross country), who was selected in September and October.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.