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“Hachimura Nisei,” Yamazaki Kazuhiro, who is competing in his first NCAA season. “I gained 10 kilos after coming here. There are times when I want to eat Japanese food” | Basketball | Shueisha’s general sports magazine Sportiva official website web Sportiva

In the winter of 2019, before entering Meisei High School, Ibu Yamazaki went to see a match at Gonzaga University, where high school senior Rui Hachimura played an active role. Seeing an NCAA game in front of him for the first time, he was deeply moved, and he became more determined to come to America.

Three and a half years have passed since then, and on November 7th (8th Japan time), Yamazaki wore the uniform of Radford University in Virginia and stood on the court of the official NCAA game. The opponent’s market-sized home court “Fiserv Forum” is an arena that also serves as the home court of the NBA Milwaukee Bucks.

We asked Issho Yamazaki how he feels now, five months after moving to the United States.
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When I visited the shoot-around held at the Fiserve Forum in the early afternoon of the day of the opening game, Yamazaki participated in the practice feeling completely familiar with the team. If he doesn’t understand something during practice, he actively asks the coaches and teammates nearby. His physique has also grown much stronger than in his high school days, and he compares favorably with his senior players.

According to Darin Nicholls (head coach) of Radford University, Yamazaki has seen a big change in English and physical aspects in the five months since he joined Radford.

“Nowadays, he’s cracking jokes from time to time and you can see his humorous personality,” Nichols laughs.

When he watched a video of Yamazaki’s play for recruiting, the first thing that caught his eye was his shooting ability. But he’s 6’7″ (200.5cm) and 215lbs (97.5kg), and he’s also physically capable of playing, and I expect him to be able to play a variety of positions.

“He can shoot, he can penetrate, he’s very smart and understands defensive schemes very well,” Nichols said.

It’s not easy to get playing time in the NCAA within a year, but he says he wants to promote growth by giving him the opportunity to play during the first half of the non-conference period. In fact, four games have been played since the opening, and although the time is long and short, he has participated in every game.

On the day of the NCAA opening game, we spoke with Yamazaki after the pre-game shootaround.

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