Yuta Watanabe
Yuta Watanabe is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Chiba Jets Funabashi of the B.League. He played college basketball in the United States for the George Washington Colonials, becoming the first Japanese-born student athlete to secure an NCAA Division I basketball scholarship. He was named Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2018. He has also represented the Japan national team, helping them win the bronze medal at the 2013 East Asia Basketball Championship.
Before moving to the collegiate level, Watanabe attended Jinsei Gakuen High School in Zentsūji, Kagawa. He later transferred to St. Thomas More Preparatory School in Oakdale, Connecticut in 2013. Watanabe rose to fame in his high school program, and was one of their most valuable players in the National Prep School Invitational as a senior in 2014. In college, he became the fourth-ever Japanese-born Division I basketball player.
High school career
Watanabe attended Jinsei Gakuen High School in Kagawa. He led the basketball team to the runner-up spot of the All-Japan High School Basketball Tournament in his final two years with the program. While in Jinsei Gakuen, Watanabe said his career goal was to make it to the NCAA and ultimately join the NBA.In late 2013, Watanabe traveled to the United States and attended St. Thomas More Preparatory School in Oakdale, Connecticut. At the conclusion of his sole high school season outside his native country, Watanabe averaged 13 points and six rebounds. He helped the team reach a 26–8 overall record and a ticket to the National Prep Championship game. On January 31, 2014, in his first appearance in the annual National Prep School Invitational, Watanabe scored 12 points versus Suffield Academy. He contributed 20 points and six rebounds in a 70–61 victory against Canarias Basketball Academy from Spain. As a result, he was named to the National Prep School Invitational All-Tournament Team and garnered prestigious New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class AAA First Team All-League honors. Watanabe was also labeled "the Chosen One" by The Japan Times.
Watanabe was rated a 77 by ESPN Recruiting Nation. He was also given a three-star rating by Scout.com and the same composite grade.
College career
In fall 2014, George Washington Colonials head coach Mike Lonergan received a phone call from Jamie Cosgrove, a coach at Trinity College who saw Watanabe play with St. Thomas More. Watanabe eventually committed to play for GWU. This allowed him to attend GWU in the 2014-15 year as a freshman. It was made official when Watanabe posted the message through Twitter, "I've decided to go to George Washington University. The school has a good basketball team, too. I'm sure I'll have hard times both in basketball and academics, but I'll give it my best shot." According to ESPN, his second option was Fordham, who gave Watanabe an offer to join their team as well. He became the first Japanese-born male player to get an NCAA Division I basketball scholarship and just the fourth to play college basketball at that level. Regarding Watanabe's collegiate career, former Japanese college basketball player KJ Matsui said, "It's good for Nabe-chan to play at a competitive team, but he's going to have to battle for playing time." The Colonials had four other recruits coming into the program for 2014–15: Anthony Swan, Darian Bryant, Matt Cimino, and Paul Jorgensen.After he joined George Washington in 2014, featured profiles of Watanabe were published by major American newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. On Watanabe's athletic caliber and exceptional career breakthrough into the NBA, where players of East Asian descent are uncommon, former Richmond Spiders men's basketball player and half-Chinese Zach Chu said, "To see someone of Asian descent, and play as well as he does, it's cool for college basketball, really cool for the Asian community." The George Washington athletics website received the second-most views from Japan in hits by country, ranked behind only the U.S. On many occasions, he was congratulated on the school's campus. Speaking on his ethnic and racial background, sporting fame and athletic legacy, he said, "Japanese are thinking Americans are bigger and taller and more athletic. They are thinking it's more difficult for Japanese to play in NCAA, but I'm playing right now, so I want to make other people come to the United States." NBA-bound players of East Asian ancestry such as Matsui, Yao Ming, Jeremy Lin, and Yuki Togashi have been the target of racist comments in the past, but Watanabe apparently did not receive racially insensitive remarks in his first few years in the NBA and the U.S. Nevertheless, he said, "If they said something racist, I don't care."
Freshman
On November 14, 2014, Watanabe made his debut for George Washington, against Grambling State, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds and a block in 20 minutes, contributing to the team's 92–40 win, its largest win since 1999. On December 12, Watanabe was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after averaging 9.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in three games as he helped the team win the 2014 Diamond Head Classic crown. Watanabe hit a key three-pointer with 3 minutes and 32 seconds remaining to upset Wichita State with a 60–54 win on December 25. On March 7, he set a career-high 21 points, knocking down seven 3-pointers, against Massachusetts. On March 9, Watanabe earned his second Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honor, becoming the first to earn multiple Rookie of the Week awards in the same season since Lasan Kromah earned three in 2009–10. He led the Colonials to a 2–0 final week of the Atlantic 10 regular season with a team-best 13.5 points on 53 percent shooting, including 64 percent behind the arc, along with five rebounds and two assists.As a freshman, Watanabe was a key bench player and an instrumental element on the Colonials' rotation. He was often awarded playing time in late-game situations. Head coach Mike Lonergan said, "With Yuta, we have scoring off the bench. If I start Yuta, we have no scoring off the bench at all."
Sophomore
On March 5, 2016, Watanabe posted career-highs in scoring and assists with 22 points and six assists in George Washington's 87–80 loss to Davidson. On March 31, he logged a team-high 19 points and a career-high four blocks as George Washington won the 2016 National Invitation Tournament with a 76–60 win over Valparaiso. It was the first time in program history the team won a postseason championship.Overall, Watanabe was the team's leader in blocked shots with 40, ranking second in the Atlantic 10. His 8.4 points per game was the fifth best on the team.
Junior
On November 15, 2016, Watanabe logged his first double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds in a 77–75 victory over Siena. On January 8, 2017, he had a career-high three steals in a game against Richmond. Watanabe scored a season-high 21 points in an 80–71 loss against Illinois on March 20.As a junior, Watanabe was the second-leading scorer at George Washington at 12.2 points per game. He was also named to the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team.
Senior
On November 20, 2017, Watanabe grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds versus Rider. On November 29, he logged a career-high five steals against Morgan State. In his final game for the Colonials on February 28, 2018, Watanabe scored a career-high 31 points in a 72–56 win over Fordham.As a senior, Watanabe was George Washington's leading scorer at 16.3 points per game and second-leading rebounder with 6.1 per game, while also leading the team in blocks with 54. He was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Colonial to win the award. Watanabe also made the Atlantic 10 All-Conference's Third Team and Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team. He also received George Washington's Patricio Garino Defensive Award and Mike Brown MVP Award, both awards named after the former basketball alumni.
At the conclusion of Watanabe's college career, he ranked near the top of key categories in GWU history including second in blocked shots, second in games played and 15th in scoring.
Professional career
Memphis Grizzlies (2018–2020)
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Watanabe played for the Brooklyn Nets in the 2018 NBA Summer League. Afterwards, he signed a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies and their NBA G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle. On October 27, 2018, Watanabe made his NBA debut, coming off the bench with two points and two rebounds in a 117–96 win over the Phoenix Suns. He became the second Japanese player to play in the NBA after Yuta Tabuse, who debuted with the Phoenix Suns in 2004. Though he spent the majority of the season in the G League with the Hustle, the Grizzlies were third behind the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in merchandise sold in Japan due to Watanabe's presence. In the G League, Watanabe started in 32 of 33 games, averaging 14.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 blocks in 33.9 minutes while shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from 3-point range.Watanabe shared his time playing back and forth for the Grizzlies and the Hustle for the season. On December 14, 2019, Watanabe and Rui Hachimura of the Washington Wizards became the first pair of Japanese players to share the court in the NBA. On January 4, 2020, Watanabe had a team-high 28 points on 12-of-19 field goal shooting and 2-of-4 from three, to go with seven rebounds, four blocks, two assists and two steals in the Hustle's 130–127 win over the Iowa Wolves. He scored a career-high 40 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field and 8-of-11 from three on January 22, in a win versus the Delaware Blue Coats. Watanabe was named Midseason All-NBA G League for the Western Conference. In the G League, Watanabe started in all 22 games, averaging 17.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block in 32.7 minutes while shooting 54.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range.