"I knew about Jeremy before you did, or everybody else did, because Arne Duncan, my Secretary of Education, was captain of the Harvard team," Obama said in a podcast interview with ESPN's Bill Simmons.
"And so way back when, Arne and I were playing and he said, I'm telling you, we've got this terrific guard named Jeremy Lin at Harvard," Obama said. "So I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while."
Lin, a Palo Alto, Calif. native, has shot into the international spotlight as a point guard for the New York Knicks over the past few months.
The basketball star's fans span from the Oval Office to family members back in Taiwan.
Despite the Knicks' recent success, Obama predicted New York will not get past his Chicago Bulls if the two teams meet in the playoffs.
