Yuta Watanabe in North America

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Yuta Watanabe's recent performance got him a mention in the New England Recruiting Report:

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/3403/NPSI-Recap-2.php

Calvin Crawford & Yuta Watanabe, STM –With only 7 healthy bodies in uniform, Crawford stepped up to provide consistent energy while also demonstrating his improving offensive tools with now consistent three-range range to match his long first step off the dribble. One day before choosing between Fordham and George Washington, Watanabe showed why he’ll be such a prize in the Atlantic 10, going for 20 points and 6 rebounds on Sunday morning while making deep jumpers and strong drives alike.

Also it's now official, Yuta Watanabe has chosen to go to George Washington University.

Jeff Goodman @GoodmanESPN 3h
George Washington picked up commitment from Yuta Watanabe -- 6-8 forward at St. Thomas More, per sources.

Corey Evans @coreyevans_10 2h
Eccentric pickup for GW in Yuta Watanabe. Japanese forward was outstanding this past weekend and brings a plethora of abilities to the floor

Colonial Army @GWColonialArmy 1h
Looks like we'll need a Japanese flag to hang in front of the student section to add to the others! Welcome Yuta Watanabe to @GW_MBB @#GWU!

http://zagsblog.com/articles/gw-lands-japanese-forward-yuta-watanabe/

George Washington head coach Mike Longeran on Tuesday landed a pledge from 6-foot-7 St. Thomas More forward Yuta Watanabe.

The Japanese player also considered Fordham, St. Thomas More coach Jere Quinn told SNY.tv.

“He has great skill, is long and is an excellent shooter,” Quinn said. “He has tremendous potential. He’s much better than everyone thinks.

“It’s a real good get for them. It’s a great location for an international student. It was a tough decision for the kid. He really liked both schools.

Watanabe is averaging 15 points and seven rebounds.

“He is a three, maybe a two and can help with the four,” Quinn said. “He’s very, very skilled and athletic.”

Watanabe is GW’s fourth pledge for 2014, joining Virginia small forward Anthony Swan, New Jersey shooting guard Paul Jorgensen and Washington, D.C. shooting guard Darian Bryant.

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Once again, thanks for the updates DarknessFalls.

Only the third Japanese player to play D1 ball.
GW adds Japanese-born recruit for 2014 class

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Another all-around game for Yuta vs South Kent:

The PG Basketball team was out for revenge against South Kent after losing to them earlier in the season. The Chancellors took a 30 point lead at halftime and did not let up beating the Cardinals by 42 points. The offense was led by Eric Paschall who had 30 points and was among six who scored in double digits. Cane Broome and Francis Kiapway combined for 25 points. Calvin Crawford and Mike Wells each contributed offensively. Yuta Watanabe hit 3 three-pointers to add to his 17 points. Josh Williams provided valuable minutes and was just shy of a double-double. This win gave STM their 20th win of the season and they are now 6-1 in conference play.

Yuta Watanabe: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists

Also some more recent articles in the past week regarding Yuta:

http://netscoutsbasketball.com/blog/national-prep-school-invitational-all-tournament-team-2/

The final votes are in. Here is the 2014 National Prep School Invitational All-Tournament Team. Thanks to all the players, fans and coaches for making the 16th annual NPSI a big success!

Yuta Watanabe, St. Thomas More (CT)
The 6’7 point forward from Japan committed to George Washington this week. He averaged 13.3 points and 4.3 rebounds over three games.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2014/02/05/basketball/watanabe-opts-to-go-to-george-washington-u/#.UvaaWfldX4r

Japanese basketball phenom Yuta Watanabe will commit to George Washington University next season, he revealed on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

“I’ve decided to go to George Washington University,” Watanabe tweeted. “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.”

Watanabe reportedly received an offer from Fordham University as well. According to ESPN’s Adam Finkelstein, Watanabe was torn between George Washington and Fordham until recently.

The 19-year-old has attended St. Thomas More School, a preparatory school in Oakdale, Connecticut, since last fall and has been a core player of its men’s basketball team.

GWU is located in Washington, D.C., and its men’s basketball team belongs to the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Colonials have made the NCAA Tournament 10 times and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1993.

George Washington has produced several NBA players. In addition, legendary former Boston Celtics head coach Red Auerbach graduated from the school.

Watanabe, a native of Kagawa Prefecture, will become one of very few Japanese-born men to have played at an NCAA Division I school, following in the footsteps of Keijuro “K.J.” Matsui and Taishi Ito, both of whom played for Division I schools in the U.S., Columbia and Portland, respectively, before returning to Japan.

According to Ben Standig of Comcast Sportsnet Washington, Watanabe will become the fifth international player on the Colonials’ 2014-15 roster.

Watanabe, who was listed as 201 cm last year but is presumably taller now, gained recognition by guiding his Jinsei High School team to runnerup finishes in 2011 and 2012 in the All-Japan Tournament.

He has also already played for the Japan national team.

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/3406/GW-Scores-with-Watanabe.php

George Washington picked up a critical 2014 commitment on Tuesday afternoon from St. Thomas More forward Yuta Watanabe.

Watanabe had trimmed his list to just GW and Fordham and was set to make a decision earlier this weekend before ultimately delaying the announcement until Tuesday morning.

The six-foot-seven forward is in just his first season stateside since arriving from his home country of Japan, and has already made rapid strides while adjusting to the speed and physicality of the American game far quicker than most international prospects.

He’ll provide GW with just the frontcourt weapon they were looking for after coming out of November’s early signing period with Letters of Intent from a trio of perimeter players in six-foot-three point guard Paul Jorgensen, six-foot-five swingman Anthony Swan, and six-foot-three swingman Darian Bryant.

Watanabe is very long and deceptively athletic with the skill set to shoot it well from behind the three-point line, put the ball on the floor, score over top of smaller defenders in the mid-range area, and even make some tough finishes around the rim.

While Watanabe is expected to make an immediate contribution, GW head coach Mike Lonergan might not be done yet as the Colonials have also pursued Worcester Academy big man Matt Cimino with what is expected to be their final scholarship of the 2014 class.

Despite a potential five man incoming class, George Washington should be primed to remain a contender in the Atlantic 10 as they are expected to return four starters from a team that is currently 17-4 overall including 5-2 in conference.

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Short video interview and game footage:

http://coxsportsonline.com/2014/02/player-profile-yuta-watanabe/?

Player Profile: Yuta Watanabe
The six-foot-seven forward arrived at St. Thomas More from his native Japan this fall and made an immediate splash with college coaches. A southpaw perimeter forward with a well developed skill set and deceptive athleticism, Watanabe has demonstrate a quick learning curve when it comes to adjusting to the speed and physicality of the American game and has seen his recruitment blossom as a result. He was being followed by an increasing number of high-major programs as the season progressed, until ultimately committing to Mike Lonergan and George Washington last week.

Update on most recent games:

2 games vs Northfield Mount Hermon

Yuta Watanabe: 22 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds

Yuta Watanabe: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist

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Good read:

Encouragement, advice helped steer Watanabe to GWU

The recent decision by promising basketball prospect Yuta Watanabe to attend George Washington University next season came as bright news for his home country.

And as much as Watanabe has rare talent, the 19-year-old out of Kagawa Prefecture has received valuable support from people around him as he tried to become a better player and eventually reach the furthest point he can.

Donald Beck, the head coach for the NBL’s Toyota Alvark, was one of the people who gave Watanabe some advice as he considered crossing the Pacific Ocean to attend preparatory school in the United States last year.

“The Watanabe family approached us and Tom Wisman, who was the national coach at that time,” said Beck, who’d coached at U.S. colleges and in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands before he signed with the Alvark in 2010. “And they were very clear that Yuta wants to go to America and the parents wanted him to go to America.”

Beck then Beck presented the Watanabes with a few options in New England, where he used to coach, including prominent prep schools. And they wound up selecting St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Connecticut. Watanabe has attended the school since September.

“So that’s all that happened. They contacted us and we did everything we could to help him fulfill his dream,” Beck said.

Now as Watanabe, a 203-cm forward, will become the third Japanese-born player to be on a NCAA Division I team later this year (and he’ll likely become the first Japanese to get a scholarship as well), he’s expected to face harder competition and challenges.

Keijuro “K.J.” Matsui, the first Japanese player to compete for an NCAA D-I school, said that it was a good choice for Watanabe to select George Washington, a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

But Matsui, a former Columbia University guard who now plays for Toyota, insisted that Watanabe would need to quickly adjust to whatever his head coach wants him to do, taking advantage of his signature plays in his new surroundings.

“There’s no guarantees that he’ll get a starting position as a freshman,” Matsui said.

Matsui said that the D-I college level is much higher than the prep school ranks and Watanabe would need to be ready for that.

“The physicality in college basketball is completely different. It’s much stronger,” Matsui said. “Defense is much different as well, and their scouting is much more thorough, so you can’t take shots as much as you would like to.”

For Matsui, it wasn’t as easy a decision to pick which college he would go to, as it may have been for Watanabe, who was reportedly torn between GW and Fordham until the last minute.

Coming out of Montrose Christian High School in Maryland (Oklahoma City Thunders star Kevin Durant went there too), Matsui had a chance to attend even more notable basketball schools, such as Davidson, Princeton, and even Michigan and North Carolina, for his sharp shooting skills.

Yet Matsui opted to attend Columbia, an Ivy League school in New York.

“I would be the first Japanese to play in Division I and I knew people would pay attention to how much I could do in it,” the 28-year-old said, recalling the experience. “Then, if I’d gone to a competitive team and couldn’t do anything there, I would’ve given an impression the Japanese players couldn’t do it there.

“That wouldn’t give other guys after me better chances. So I thought it would be better for me to be able to play for an entire year.”

Matsui congratulated Watanabe for being given the opportunity to play for a competitive college team like GW, but just making the roster should not be his goal.

“It’s good for Nabe-chan (Watanabe) to play at a competitive team, but he’s going to have to battle for playing time.”

Beck thinks that Watanabe will have success in his collegiate career and eventually has a chance to achieve his goal — to play in the NBA.

Well, the NBA talk may be a little too early for the teenager, but he had a successful prep career and was recently named to the National Prep School Invitational all-tournament team.

“To be quite honest with you, there is a great amount of young Japanese talent in Japan,” Beck said. “I think that talent is there. And I think the more exposure they get to other styles of play (and) other styles of coaching, the better they are going to be.”

-Japan Times

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25 points for Watanabe in his recent final game. He kept getting better as he progressed with St. Thomas More. But with George Washington, he is expected this early to fight for minutes.

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Two men’s basketball recruits sign National Letters of Intent

...Watanabe is another three-star recruit who will bring solid international experience and a smooth stroke to the Colonials lineup. Originally from Japan, Watanabe averaged 13 points and six rebounds in a 26-8 season at St. Thomas More Prep, making it to the National Prep Championship game, where he scored a team-high 25 points to cap off his first season in the U.S. Back in Japan last May, the 6-foot-8 forward played for the Japanese National Team in the FIBA East Asia Championships.

“Yuta is a very versatile player who can play several positions,” Lonergan said in the release. “He has the ball-handling and shooting abilities of a guard and the athleticism and height of a forward. We expect him to make an immediate impact for us because of his combination of skills.”..

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[judasmartel]

I'll be expecting a Yuta Watanabe vs Kobe Paras (PHI) match-up in the US NCAA, then.

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I'll be expecting a Yuta Watanabe vs Kobe Paras (PHI) match-up in the US NCAA, then.

That depends on several things, including choice of school, schedule, playing time and assuming Yuta is still in the NCAA when Paras enters in 2016. Not all NCAA D1 schools face each other either.

If Paras ends up at UC Irvine, he's more than likely to see Chris Tang than Yuta in the Big West Conference.

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http://www.csnwashington.com/ncaa/kenner-league-preview-copeland-watanabe-standing-out

Yuta Watanabe, George Washington - Getting a first glimpse of incoming freshmen is a true highlight and benefit of Kenner League action, at least for those tasked with covering college basketball. This past Saturday was my first chance to watch the Japanese native in person. The 6-foot-8 forward made quite an impression. What's quite apparent is that Watanabe has a tremendous feel for the game, both as a scorer and passer. The lefty-shooter showed decent range with a step-back corner jumper. He even stood out on a miss. Watanabe missed a layup in traffic, but was the quickest off the bounce and jammed in the putback. We're not talking about a power player at this point - yes, rather thin - but we are looking at someone who should be able to contribute immediately in GW's rotation this season.

http://www.casualhoya.com/2014/7/19/5919477/kenner-league-recap-july-19-2014

-Yuta Watanabe: a 6’8 freshman forward for GW- has been a real pleasure to watch this summer. Really skinny (listed at 200 lbs), but long and athletic with solid skills. He runs the court hard, jumps very well, can hit open 3s. As he gains some strength and experience, he is a player to watch for GW

https://georgetown.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1661674

Yuta Watanabe - 6'9" 205 pound freshman forward, GW, A. Wash - With greater strength work, including developing his upper body, GW may have a star on their hands; Watanabe, a native of Kagawa, Japan finished in open court situations. He plays above the rim. Can also hit spot up three balls, and will defend shooters.

A long athletic player that stood out last year with St. Thomas More (CT) prep school, Watanabe scored 18 points. Lefty has a good feel for the game.

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Yuta Watanabe had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 assists in 20 minutes vs Bloomsburg (Exhibition game)

http://www.atlantic10.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=-4&id=3523594

http://blogs.gwhatchet.com/courtside/2014/11/08/mens-basketball-returns-to-action-with-exhibition-win-over-bloomsburg/

The team’s five freshmen came out strong, contributing a combined total of 37 points, led by Bryant and freshmen Yuta Watanabe, who totaled 12 points and led the team defensively with three blocks.

“I think individually [the freshmen] did some good things. I thought Yuta played very very well… he’s got long arms and he’s a very good defender,” Lonergan said. “He’s really talented. I think as these guys get used to playing with Yuta and he gets used to playing with them, he’s going to be a lot better a few months down the road.”

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Watanabe with Yao Ming

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GW defeats Grambling State: 92-40

Yuta finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 block

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Good read about Watanabe's experience so far:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/20/yuta-watanabe-makes-quick-impact-george-washington/