"Perhaps... it's time for us to change our strategy for this year's draft!"
Seeing the Oklahoma Sooners Head Coach, Lon Krugar forced to call a timeout, many NBA executives and scouts on the sidelines began to hastily revise their reports on Jinwoo.
After the previous game, Jinwoo had entered the scouts' radar, with a projected draft stock at the end of the first round.
However, now, after defeating Deandre Ayton and completely dominating Trae Young, two consensus top-pick favorites, Jinwoo's draft stock had skyrocketed.
Most scouts immediately placed his name in the lottery pick range.
Some scouts even placed his name in the top ten picks!
And a select few scouts had boldly placed Jinwoo's name in the top five picks!
Clearly, the current Jinwoo was no longer the man who only performed cheers and waved towels.
He was a genuine prodigy!
At the same time, the Oklahoma Sooners' indoor basketball arena fell silent.
Only the two commentators on site were still passionately narrating the situation on the court.
Although the game's outcome was already very clear, for the commentators, their work was far from over.
Similarly, Jinwoo's personal showtime was far from over!
Jinwoo, who had fully found his rhythm since the start of the second half, did not slow down his scoring momentum on the offensive end.
Even when Alexander and Vanderbilt returned to the court, they were willing to act as Jinwoo's support, constantly feeding him the ball.
Ultimately, due to the insurmountable point difference between the two teams, Coach Kruger substituted his starting lineup, led by Trae Young, five minutes early, officially conceding the game.
"Trae!"
"MVP!"
"Trae!"
"MVP!"
It is worth mentioning that when Trae Young walked off the court, fans throughout the arena collectively stood up, showering their star player with deafening cheers and MVP chants.
"For Trae Young, his college career has been dreamlike enough!"
Seeing Trae Young's lonely figure leaving the court, the two live commentators also stood up and applauded in his direction: "He is the first player in NCAA Division I history to win both the scoring title and assist title in a single season!"
"He will remain an indelible memory in NCAA history, and I have every reason to believe that Trae Young's future is destined to be brilliant!"
On the other side, Coach Calipari also did not want to press his advantage too much, waving his hand and proactively substituting the starting lineup of Jinwoo, Alexander, and Vanderbilt.
"After this substitution, Jinwoo should not return to the court!"
After expressing their admiration for Trae Young, the two commentators shifted their focus back to Jinwoo: "His statistics for this game should now be finalized!"
"So now, we can prematurely announce that the Kentucky Wildcats have secured a spot in this season's Final Four!"
"In addition, we must congratulate Jinwoo for setting a new NCAA Tournament single-game scoring record for the Kentucky Wildcats!"
Jinwoo, who scored 15 points in the first half, exploded for 26 points in the second half!
His 41-point performance is the new benchmark for a freshman in the NCAA Tournament!
The two live commentators had every reason to believe that if Jinwoo had been given more playing time, his single-game scoring record would have been further improved.
"Jinwoo's phenomenal shooting ability and the dynamic athleticism he displayed on the offensive end are telling fans worldwide what kind of truly remarkable talent he possesses!"
"Jinwoo is not only a super scorer, he is also an emerging defensive master!"
"He might also be the most promising and complete freshman in the entire NCAA!"
For the remainder of the game, it entered garbage time, while the two live commentators lavished Jinwoo with various praises.
Terms like "super genius from Korea" and "Black Mamba successor" were already common.
Now, Jinwoo had become a super dark horse in the mouths of the two commentators!
"If Jinwoo can help the Kentucky Wildcats continue this run with this kind of form, then he will definitely be the biggest dark horse in this year's NBA Draft!"
"Yes, I can't think of any reason not to pick him in the top three!"
In the previous game, Jinwoo was called upon in a critical moment. Although his playing time was not extensive, his unstoppable scoring performance on the offensive end, coupled with two poster dunks over the top pick favorite Deandre Ayton, had already announced the arrival of a prodigy to the world.
In today's game, facing another top pick favorite, Jinwoo completely outplayed Trae Young on both ends of the court in the second half, naturally demonstrating the caliber of a high draft pick.
Amidst the two commentators' various praises for Jinwoo, this highly anticipated NCAA Elite Eight game finally concluded.
The Kentucky Wildcats, relying on Jinwoo's historic single-game scoring, eliminated the Oklahoma Sooners with a massive 20-point advantage on the road, successfully advancing to the Final Four!
This also marks the Kentucky Wildcats' return to the Final Four after a significant run of years (their last appearance was in 2015, six years prior to this fictional 2021 setting).
The camera shifted, and even though the entire game had ended, Trae Young still sat on the bench, unable to recover for a long time.
This might be Young's closest chance to a championship in his career, and also the furthest.
It was as if he had lost not just a game, but his entire college career.
Eventually, Trae Young emerged from his dejection, stood up, and walked toward the Kentucky Wildcats' bench.
He first embraced Alexander in greeting, and the two whispered to each other before bidding farewell.
No one knew what they had said.
"Jinwoo, you are incredibly strong…"
Then Young proactively found Jinwoo, also embracing him in greeting: "See you in the NBA!"
After this battle, Trae Young felt that Jinwoo was very likely to become his lifelong rival.
Although he was still far from being his opponent now.
But no one could predict how the future story would unfold.
Jinwoo is very strong!
But Trae Young will only become stronger than him!
And the scene of the two together was frantically captured by various media outlets on the sidelines.
They clearly understood that the story of these two super rookies would definitely continue into the future NBA courts.