Rui Hachimura Highlights : 2014〜2016

Rui Hachimura Hachimura, a native of Toyama Prefecture in Japan, led Meisei High School to back-to-back All-Japan High School Tournament championships in his three years at Meisei high school. He also guided the team to the Inter-High School Championship title, another major trophy for Japanese high school basketball, 2015. Several Japanese-born players have competed at NCAA Division I level. But Gonzaga, a West Coast Conference school, will be the highest-profile men’s basketball program (10th in the latest AP Top 25 poll) that a Japanese has played at. The 198-cm Hachimura, who was born to a father from Benin and a Japanese mother, has drawn international attention. He led the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Dubai in scoring (22.6 points) and was the only Japanese invited to the Jordan Brand Classic at Barclays Center in April 2015. Besides Gonzaga, many other U.S. D-I programs had also had close eyes on him. Hachimura, a dominant inside force in Japanese prep ball, mostly played near the basket in his first year at Meisei, but with his transfer to the United States in sight, he’s started to polish his outside skills, including jump shots and penetration.He lists Jabari Parker of the Milwaukee Bucks as one of his favorite players, and his goal is to become an NBA player. Hachimura, who played on the Japan national team in the Aug. 29-Sep. 6 William Jones Cup 2015 in Taiwan, said during a national training camp this summer that he’s working on his English to prepare for his move to the United States.