Think of Ryo Tawatari Basketball Olympics as a broad title used to describe the journey of Japanese basketball prodigy in the person of Ryo Tawatari.
Japan’s Ryo Tawatari has been a basketball prodigy since high school. He was discovered by his local club, the Toyama Griz, at 16 and went on to become the top-scorer in the Japanese junior league at 17.
In addition to being a prolific scorer, he also has exceptional size and skill for a player his age. Tawatari also has an impressive international resume.
At 16, he played on the under-16 national team in the FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship. He scored 4 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in one game against Qatar.
He also participated in the 2015 FIBA Under-17 World Championship as a member of Japan’s junior national teams (U-16 & U-18).
Ryo Tawatari Basketball Olympics: Notable Milestones
During the U-16 tournament, he averaged 16 points per game on 74 percent shooting from the field. He Ryo chipped in 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block per game.
In the U-18 tournament, he played limited minutes but still managed to average 12 points per game on 66 percent shooting from the field with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks per game.
“Ryo Tawatari is an exceptionally talented athlete who is a unique blend of size and skill,” said Michael Porter Jr., head coach of USA Basketball’s 2018 Men’s World Cup Team. Michael maintained that Ryo has great potential.
Ryo Tawatari Bio
Ryo Tawatari was a Japanese-American basketball player born in June 29, 1993. He is one of the stars of Terrace House. He entered the series in part 2, and quickly grabbed the attention of his housemates die to his charm and good looks.
For five years, Ryo attended Keihoku High School in Tokyo for his senior school. Not long after, he went to college in America. Ryo Tawatari attended and played for DUC (Dominican University of California).
Ryo Tawatari Height
Ryo Tawatari is an American player who plays for the United States men’s national basketball team. He currently stands at 180cm.
Tawatari became interested in basketball after watching his brother play competitively. He began playing street-ball in his early teens and eventually played in high school and with a semi-professional team in Japan.
An Iconic Player
As a freshman at Maryland, Ryo averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, his scoring increased to 12 points and 7 rebounds per game, earning him All-Big Ten honors.
As a junior, he averaged 11 points and 8 rebounds per game and was named Big Ten Player of the Year. He graduated from Maryland in 2013 with a degree in finance and joined a start-up company as an executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Tawatari was selected by the Houston Rockets as the 56th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. On December 2, 2013, he signed with the Rockets for three years on a $1.7 million deal.
He received the John Wooden Award, which is given to the best college basketball player. In 2016, he was selected as one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all time.
