, the 7-foot, 265-pound transfer student from China, laughed briefly and shook his head on Saturday, as one of the practice sessions at was about to end. No, Xu confirmed, he hadn’t seen himself on a recent TV profile. But The Haverford School center remains in the spotlight each time the Fords play this season.
He’s been the center of much speculation, most recently his dropped status from a senior to a junior. It’s something Fords’ coach wants to clarify.
“The school determined to drop Tao from a senior to a junior,” said Fairfax, who serves a dual role as Haverford School’s director of admissions. “It was a decision that did come from us. We would have classified him as a senior, but to be honest, had he got here on time, we would have. Tao wants to go to college next year, and I think he’ll be ready. But we have our academic
standards to satisfy and we have an obligation and responsibility to our students to make sure they’re ready for college.”
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Xu came to Haverford midway through the fall semester recovering from a back injury, which he sustained during the summer. He was officially scheduled to arrive in August. But the injury delayed everything, since doctors in China prevented him to travel for a long period of time on a plane.
“It is a very fluid situation,” Fairfax said. “His late arrival is what set everything back. We let Tao know, he’s fully aware of everything. What you really like about Tao is that he’s a fast learner and he gets it. Part of the reason he came to Haverford School is go to an American college. It really works for everyone is he stays another year, or he goes. Our responsibility still remains the student and whether or not he’s prepared academically for college.”
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Fairfax said if Xu returns next year Haverford School would play a national schedule and give Xu, and a handful of especially talented underclassmen, led by freshman point guard , larger exposure. But Xu wouldn’t be allowed to play in any Inter-Academic League games, the league in which the Fords belong.
In the short time Xu’s been in the United States, he’s quickly picked up English. He’s shown a tremendous aptitude in math, constantly figuring out and breaking down minutes of games, and how quickly a team scores.
“I’m really that concerned with basketball when it comes to Tao,” Fairfax said. “First and foremost, we want to get him academically ready for
college.”
Xu received an official offer from Drexel University recently, the first school to make an overt offer to him. Georgetown, Temple, Virginia. St. Joseph’s and a number of other schools (“I get a call from a new school every day,” Fairfax said) have been showing interest in him. But Xu, coming from China, doesn’t know the difference between Duke and Drexel.
“I’m advocating Tao makes the best decision for himself,” Fairfax said. “But it would be smart for Tao to go to a mid-major (St. Joe’s, La Salle, Drexel, Delaware), go in there and be ‘the man,’ a big fish in a small pond and continue to grow as a person, as a student and as a basketball player—in that order. It would give him a chance to develop his game, plus he’d be going to a school that has great academics and isn’t a school that’s all about basketball.”
Xu’s affable makeup has made his adjustment process very smooth. His comfort zone on and off the court is certainly growing. His game has improved ten-fold, a byproduct of healing from a back. He’s the Fords’ best shooter, showing tremendous range for someone his height. He also possesses incredible footwork for a 7-footer, eschewing the robotic, mechanical movements (again probably due to the back injury) that once restricted him.
And the Haverford School community has certainly embraced him, hanging paper banners taped to the stands that read “Tao’s Zoo.” After completing a three-point play in a Fords’ victory over Penn Charter on Friday, Xu saluted the crowd.
Bu this scope is growing beyond the basketball court. After Xu’s recent TV appearance, he and Fairfax took a drive to a local car wash. There, the guys recognized Fairfax’s tall passenger, and they told him they saw him on TV the other night. Xu smiled and shook his head. He hadn’t seen it yet. But a growing number are seeing Xu.
