Japan Men's Basketball Squad Unveils its Roster for Paris Olympics

Heading into the upcoming Paris Olympics, the Japan men's basketball national team looks a lot like it did during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Eight of 12 players from last summer's squad will suit up for Akatsuki Japan at the Olympics. Head coach Tom Hovasse's squad was officially announced on Monday, July 8.

The four additions to the squad are Los Angeles Lakers power forward Rui Hachimura, who competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; point guard Kai Toews of the B.League's Alvark Tokyo; University of Hawaii small forward Akira Jacobs and center Hugh Watanabe, who played the past three seasons for the B.League's Ryukyu Golden Kings and signed with the Shinshu Brave Warriors in July. Watanabe was on Team Japan for Tokyo 2020 but didn't appear in its three games.

Basketball World Cup participants Yudai Nishida, Shuta Hara, Soichiro Inoue and Koya Kawamata, all of whom play for B.League clubs, were replaced on the roster by the quartet listed above.

Difficult Decisions to Finalize the Basketball Team's Roster

The process of settling on the final list of players was an arduous project, according to Hovasse, who guided the Japan women's team to a runner-up finish in the Tokyo Games.

"Narrowing the field down from about 40 players to 12 over the past two months has been a really difficult process," Hovasse said. "I want to thank all the players for their hard work and dedication."

Added Hovasse, a former Penn State and NBA player and a JBL star in the 1990s, "Now that we have 12 players, we are looking forward to competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics with this group."

Japan, ranked 26th in the world, has a youthful, versatile roster for the Paris Games. The average height: 193.7 cm; the average age: 26.4 years old.

Roster returnees from the Basketball World Cup include B.League star guards Yuki Togashi, Yuki Kawamura and Makoto Hiejima, free agent forwards Yuta Watanabe and Yudai Baba, Sunrockers Shibuya big man Josh Hawkinson, a naturalized Japanese citizen, small forward Hirotaka Yoshii and sharpshooter Keisei Tominaga, who wrapped up his college career at the University of Nebraska during the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Selected to Lead Team Japan

Togashi, one of the enduring stars of Japanese pro hoops and one the faces of the B.League since its inception in 2016, was chosen as team captain for the Olympics.

"I am very honored to be selected as a member of Japan's men's national team for the Paris 2024 Olympics," Togashi said on Monday.

Looking ahead to the 12-team Olympic tournament, Togashi said he will give his best effort as Japan seeks to achieve its goal of reaching the quarterfinals. 

"I would also like to express my gratitude to all of you who have been involved in the national basketball team," said Togashi, a dynamic playmaker who helped lead the Jets to the East Asia Super League and All Japan Basketball Championship (aka Emperor's Cup) titles in 2024.

He added, "I would like to fight on the backs of everyone who has been involved with basketball on the national team. Please support me."

Olympic Opportunity Before Potential Jobs in the NBA

In recent days, Kawamura and Tominaga reached agreements to sign Exhibit 10 contracts with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and Indiana Pacers, respectively. Both players have a shot at securing an NBA contract (or a two-way deal with the NBA club and its NBA G League affiliate) for the upcoming season.

Returning to the Spotlight

Hawkinson led Akatsuki Japan in scoring (21.0 points) and rebounding (10.8) in five Basketball World Cup games at Okinawa Arena, helping the team win three of its five games.

Yuta Watanabe, who played six seasons in the NBA and is poised to join a B.League team for the 2024-25 season, was second in scoring (14.8) and rebounding (6.2).

Kawamura, MVP of the 2022-23 B.League season, averaged 13.6 points and led the team in assists (7.6) in Okinawa City. A talented catalyst on offense, Kawamura was second in the B.League in points (20.9) and first in assists (8.1) in 2023-24.

In the run-up to the Olympics, the 23-year-old is fired up about the challenge that lies ahead.

"The whole team believes in our goal of reaching the top eight in the tournament, and we are fighting for it," Kawamura was quoted as saying by NHK on Sunday.

"We will definitely achieve our goal, not only by our own strength but also with the help of our supporters."

Additional Facts and Figures about Team Japan

Togashi, who turns 31 on July 30, and Hiejima, 33, are the elder statesmen of Japan's Olympic basketball team. The other 10 players are all in their 20s.

An indispensable member of the Chiba Jets since 2015, Togashi averaged 18.0 points per game in the 2023-24 season and helped the Jets finish with a 48-12 record.

Hiejima contributed 12.6 points and 3.6 assists per game for the Utsunomiya Brex, who had a league-best 51-9 record.

Looking ahead to the Paris Olympics, Hiejima admitted that encouragement from fans will be a welcome boost for him as he competes for the national team.

"It will be a big challenge," Hiejima told the crowd at Ariake Arena after Japan's 88-80 victory over South Korea on Sunday, July 7, according to Yahoo Japan. It was the second of two SoftBank Cup matches in a tuneup tourney for the Paris Games. South Korea edged Japan 85-84 in the opener on Friday, July 5.

"But I believe everyone's support will give me strength, so please continue to support me."

There are two American-born players on the roster: Hawkinson, who is Washington State's all-time leading rebounder, was born in Seattle, and Hugh Watanabe, whose mother is Japanese, was born in Hawaii. Watanabe played college ball at the University of Portland, (2017-20, and the University of California, Davis, 2020-21).

Getting to Know Jacobs

Jacobs was born in Yokohama while his father served in the US military. He grew up in California and returned to Japan, his mother's homeland, at age 16 in December 2020.

As a college freshman in the 2023-24 season, Jacobs appeared in 28 games. He averaged 2.4 points, 1.0 rebounds and 6.7 minutes per contest.

Avid supporters of the B.League, especially the B-Corsairs, should also remember him. Jacobs suited up for Yokohama as a specially designated player at age 17, making his debut with the team in November 2021. And then on February 3, 2022, he scored his first basket in a B.League game, becoming the circuit's youngest player to achieve the feat at 17 years, 9 months.

"I am very excited and grateful to have been selected as a final member," Jacobs said of making the 12-man Olympic basketball squad's roster. "It has been my dream to compete in the Olympics. I am so thankful that this opportunity came sooner than I expected."

He added, "I would like to thank everyone who has supported me along the way. We will be competing against the best teams in the world. [And] we will not go into the competition to [just] play against the best teams in the world, but to try to win. Of course, it will not be easy."

At the 2023 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Hungary, Jacobs averaged 17.0 points and 5.6 rebounds in seven games for Japan, scoring in double figures in all but one contest.

A Look Ahead

Japan faces world No 3 Germany (July 27), ninth-ranked France (July 30) and No 12 Brazil (August 12) in Group B preliminary round games at the Paris Olympics.

At the 2023 World Cup, Germany defeated Japan 81-63 in the teams' tourney opener in Okinawa.

RELATED:

• Basketball Tournament Draws Announced for the Paris Olympics
• [ODDS and EVENS] Basketball World Cup Showed That Japan is Headed in the Right Direction

Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.