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Portsmouth, Virginia. One month after finishing an exceptional basketball career at Harvard, Jeremy Lin was playing for a team sponsored by a water sealant company.

This is a part of the NBA dream most do not see, a part without mascots or cheerleaders or pep bands. At the Portsmouth Invitational, a pre-draft camp for 64 of the nation’s top college seniors, no one is defined by school colors.

That is good for Lin, whose Ivy League roots could otherwise leave him overlooked among players from North Carolina, Michigan State and Connecticut.

As Lin drove the baseline and made a difficult layup in his first game on Wednesday, the public-address announcer recited his name and university to the pro scouts, agents and fans in the high school gym. He accentuated the word Harvard, perhaps to draw attention to the unusual.

In five of the past eight years, no Ivy League players attended this four-day, invitation-only showcase. This year, there are three — Lin, and Cornell’s Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote — giving their conference as many representatives as the Big East.

“I can’t remember a time we’ve had three Ivy guys at the same time,” said Marty Blake, the NBA’s director of scouting. “We’d get one or two from Penn or Princeton, but not much beyond that.”

Portsmouth is not a camp for first-round draft picks. It is a camp for those players on the fringe. Six of the 64 entrants from last year’s camp were drafted, all in the second round.

For players from the Ivy League, where there are no athletic scholarships and little national television exposure, the camp is a rare opportunity. No Ivy League player has been drafted since Jerome Allen of Pennsylvania was selected 49th by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995.

Lin, Wittman and Foote are long shots to be drafted this year, but all are considered pro prospects. Their presence at this camp — combined with Cornell’s run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, the first Ivy team to advance that far since 1979 — has signified a shift in the perception of Ivy League basketball.

“In the last couple of years, the caliber of Ivy League players has changed,” said Washington Wizards assistant Randy Wittman, a former first-round pick who also happens to be Ryan Wittman’s father. “These guys wouldn’t have been invited to the camp unless they were looked at as players who can reach the NBA.”

Former Sen. Bill Bradley, who starred at Princeton before his Hall of Fame career began in 1967, remains the most well-known Ivy-to-NBA (with a detour to Oxford) success story.

However, the flag bearer of the modern era is probably center Chris Dudley who graduated from Yale in 1987. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and had a 16-year career.

“You have a hurdle to overcome,” said Dudley, who is running for governor of Oregon. “You have to prove you belong. There’s a perception that you’re a team player, but not as athletic and maybe not as capable of carrying it over to the next level.”

Lin, Wittman and Foote have skills that would translate well to the NBA, but they are also followed by questions about their strength and athleticism.

The 6-foot-3 Lin is a skillful passer and attacks the rim well. He said he did not consider the NBA a realistic dream until recently.

Wittman, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard, and Foote, a 7-foot center, came to the tournament with a bit more recognition, thanks to the Big Red’s NCAA tournament run that ended with a loss to Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

Wittman, the Ivy League’s player of the year, scored 17.5 points a game for Cornell. He is an excellent shooter with the size professional teams covet.

Foote is the most raw of the three, but as the two-time Ivy League defensive player of the year, he may have the most potential. He made 11 of 13 field-goal attempts and averaged 11 points and 6.5 rebounds in his first two games here, and has good footwork for a player of his height.

“There’s a stigma that we’re just smart guys who can’t play,” Foote said, “but I definitely feel like we’re turning that around.”

NBA assistant director of scouting Ryan Blake said Wittman or Lin could become the first Ivy League player drafted in 15 years.

“It’s not just about the second round, it’s about opportunity,” Blake said. “If they don’t get picked, both of them are going to have their numbers dialed by NBA teams immediately. From there, you just see what happens.”

If basketball turns fleeting, all three players have Ivy League degrees. All three are majoring in economics or management.

However, Foote said if he entered the white-collar world, he would feel like many soon-to-be college graduates.

“I have no idea what I’d want to do,” he said.

 

The New York Times