Leap of faith: Student moves from Taiwan to play hoops at Gaston Day

GASTONIA — Ray Chen had every right to be nervous on his flight to the United States a few months ago.

Not only was this high school senior leaving behind his family in Taiwan, but he was headed for a foreign country whose language he didn’t speak.

Chen was willing to make the sacrifices because they’re all part of a bigger picture. The 6-foot-1 point guard is giving Gaston Day School a big lift this season and hopes to do the same thing at Belmont Abbey College next season.

“That’s probably one of the things that I respect the most about Ray is you have a kid who had this goal of playing college basketball in the United States … but there’s this huge barrier in his way that would probably scare most all of us completely away,” Gaston Day coach Casey Field said. “He said, ‘You know, that’s something I want to do.’ I don’t know many high school kids that would do that.”

The stat sheet tells some of Chen’s story. He’s Gaston Day’s second-leading scorer at 22.4 points per game and leads the Spartans in assists (3.6) and steals (2.4). He’s developed a tremendous pull-up jumper and he’s one of the best ball handlers on a team full of them.

But basketball’s the easy part.

After moving here in September, Chen has worked practically every day on his vocabulary. He speaks less around adults than he does with fellow students, but Field believes Chen is learning the language quickly and knows more than he thinks.

The culture shock hasn’t been too bad, and there’s been no problem finding food that he likes. His favorite fare comes from Burger King, a restaurant he also frequents back home. He says the Chinese restaurants here actually serve the real thing, and he especially likes Tin Tin in Charlotte.

The transition to a new basketball team has gone remarkably well. Field calls Chen a leader by example and said he’s even spoken up in the huddle despite his shortcomings with the English language.

“The thing that I like about Ray is that he is an unbelievably hard worker and he does everything very hard,” Field said. “Even if we’re doing a basic drill, he will pass and cut really hard. And what that does to the rest of the practice is that everybody rises to that level.”

Chen said he’s a fan of Duke and North Carolina. His favorite NBA player is Chris Paul, and he definitely has a point guard’s mentality.

“I just try to talk with my teammates and tell them how to play, and I just try to do a lot of passing to my teammates,” Chen said.

Chen began playing basketball at age 10 in a basketball-crazed part of the world. He said basketball is by far the most popular sport in Taiwan, especially at the high school level, which has live television coverage.

As a sophomore, he helped his team finish second in the country. As a junior, his team took third place.

“He’s been very well coached in Taiwan,” Field said. “He picks things up unbelievably fast.”

Shontrell Hopper describes his new teammate as serious on the court but funny off the court. Hopper spends time with Chen away from the gym, and when they go out to eat, Hopper often finds himself interpreting menus.

“I think it’s fun trying to help a friend learn a new language,” Hopper said. “It’s all brand new to him, so it’s fun.”

Although he talks with his family everyday on Facebook or Skype, Chen misses home. The good news is he’s gained a new basketball family at Gaston Day, not to mention a host family that he’s grown to love in a hurry.

Jim and Tammy Lawrence had sporadically talked over the years about the possibility of fostering a child or being a host family if an opportunity arose. Then, they received an email from Gaston Day looking for a host family for Chen.

“I don’t know what told us to do it, but there really wasn’t much discussion,” Tammy Lawrence said. “We said we’ll take Ray and, lo and behold, it’s been an awesome experience.”

Chen easily fit in with the Lawrence family and became instant friends with the two boys, James, 12, and Jacob, 11, who are huge basketball fans.

Jim and Tammy Lawrence, who live in Cramer Mountain and own a landscaping company in Charlotte, have included Chen on numerous activities like paintball, hunting and a trip to the beach. He joined them on a visit to the mountains to select their Christmas tree, and it was there that he touched snow for the first time.

“It’s so awesome to see how fascinated he is with everything,” Tammy Lawrence said.

Everybody at Gaston Day seems to be fascinated with Chen, too.

Phillip Gardner: 704-869-1843; twitter.com/gazettephil