Before everything, Rui was born in the Toyama prefecture in Japan to a Japanese mother and Beninese father. At first, like most Japanese kids he played baseball and dreamed of one day making the MLB, Basketball at first was a side hobby, but not too long after he began taking the Japenese basketball world by storm at Meisi high school, he shifted his focus to hoops. At Meisei, he was the best high school player in the country and led his team to two straight national titles while averaging over 25 points per game and dominating the boards. Word quickly spread across the country, and he became known as a basketball phenom, who had the potential to one day become the first NBA player out of Japan.
The local hype doesn’t stop there, Rui has also drawn a lot of attention for his success with the Japanese national team, so far only with their youth squads. He came up huge for Japan at the 2014 FIBA u-17 World Championship and led the whole tournament in scoring, averaging 23 pts, 7 Reb, and 2 blocks a game, Fast forward a few years and to 2017, and he led Japan to surprise 10th place finish at the FIBA U-19 world championship. Where he averaged 21 points per game, second to only Canadian RJ Barrett, next years projected #1 overall pick who will attend Duke this upcoming college season.
Rui burst onto the college recruiting scene in 2015 as one of the top international NCAA prospects.
With several programmes lining up with scholarship offers, his narrowed his options down to Arizona or Gonzaga. In the end, opting to become a bulldog in late 2016. As unlikely as it seemed, after failing to meet several NCAA requirements, he suited up for his freshman year at Gonzaga for the start of 2016-17 season, and became only the fifth Japan-born player to play for a men's D-1 basketball team, and by becoming a part of such a prestigious program, who’d make and lose the national championship game to North Carolina, he was already one step ahead of the first four. His impact was minimal his first year, he played even less than 5 minutes per game and averaged just 2 points. But I must add when on the court his rapid improvement was noticeable, which he took with him going into his sophomore season. Although still coming off the bench starting just twice in 37 games, Hachimura became a major contributor for the Bulldogs, Averaging 12 points and 5 rebounds per game, shooting 57% from the field. Which also amounts to 22 and 9 per 40 minutes. His performances earned him a spot on the all west coast conference first team. Despite seeing interest from NBA teams that could’ve seen him picked anywhere from mid to late second round, Rui decided to put his NBA dream on hold and return to Gonzaga for his junior season. Where he’s expected to take another huge leap in the right direction, with Jonathan Williams graduating, Hachimura will step into a starting role and be the focal point on offense down low, he’s a 6’8 225 specimen with flashes of big upside who can play either forward position. He has all the physical tools to be a big-time two-way player and is starting and will only continue to put it all together on the court. Rui already has an NBA build with great strength, long arms and awesome coordinational, he’s a menace in transition who can outrun most players on the floor, he scores well in transition, has a relentless motor on the offensive glass, and has the potential to be a standout defender with the ability to switch. Though it must be said, he can be very inconsistent, lighting up one game and disappearing the next. And While a good shooter, his range is limited and he’s of no threat from the college three-point line let alone the NBA’s. As he shot just 19% from 3pt land last season
Overall Rui Hachimura is a name you might wanna get used to hearing before the start of next season, I expect him to be a huge factor for Gonzaga next year, and if he can continue at his current pace of leap’s forward in the right direction. He’ll for sure be a huge target for several NBA teams, and like I said earlier could easily be selected first round.
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