The Japanese word for basketball is “basukettoboru,” which is commonly shortened to “basuke” in the nation of roughly 124 million.
It’s a phrase that Tomoaki Saka has been very familiar with since he was young, and from his bustling hometown of Osaka to the quaint community of Summit, the sport has taken him on quite the journey as he pursues his lifelong dreams.
Where it all began
Among Asian nations, Japan has a rich basketball history.
The country was the founding member of the continent’s FIBA league in 1936, has qualified for the Olympic Games on seven occasions and won the Asian Basketball Championships twice.
On top of that, Rui Hachimura of the Los Angeles Lakers and Yuki Kawamura of the Memphis Grizzlies have given Japan a notable NBA presence in recent years, and the national team nearly upset powerhouses France in the 2024 Olympic Games.
Due to all of that, basketball has never been more popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, and that trend made an impact on Saka.
Growing up in Osaka, a coastal city with the third-largest population in the country, Saka found his love for basketball through his older brothers who were always on the hardwood.
He began playing at age nine and stuck with it until his second year of college, which was when COVID-19 drastically impacted the sports world.
With only school to focus on, Saka finished out his undergraduate years and determined that he wanted to get involved with basketball again following his graduation.
“I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my future, and I knew that I wanted to work within the basketball industry,” Saka said. “Whether it was being a coach or being on the business side, I wanted to do anything.”
Thus, Saka began to research what opportunities were out there while also learning basic English, something he figured would be useful for working in a sport that is as international as any.
And as he continued to narrow his goals, Saka began to shift his focus to the birthplace of basketball: The United States.
“Going to the U.S. was a dream for me since I was young,” Saka said. “I looked into studying abroad in America and at the time it was hard with COVID restrictions, but I decided that I wanted to have a coaching career with college basketball.”
Becoming a Bear
Prior to the 2023-2024 season, Southwest head coach Corey Schmidt was searching for student managers, the backbone of any successful college basketball program.
He had been scouring the normal avenues for candidates when he received emails from a Japanese sports agency and Saka himself.
“I didn’t have any connections with any college coaches to start, but I found an agency in Japan that helps people go study abroad with sports in America,” Saka said. “The agency and I sent a lot of emails to coaches, and Coach Corey responded.”
A Zoom call was set up between the two sides, and Schmidt offered Saka the position during the meeting. The head coach was intrigued by Saka’s enthusiasm and the uniqueness of his story, and after working through financial elements, Schmidt was ready to offer the position.
“I had already allocated most of my manager money for the year, so I told the agency that if he was willing to pay for most of his own way over here, we’d love to have him,” Schmidt said. “His English was a bit shaky at that point so there was some translating needed from the agency, but I could tell he was eager and excited to get to America.”
After plenty of conversations with family and personal reflection, Saka opted to take a chance with the Bear program.
“I didn’t have any knowledge about JUCOs, I didn’t have a lot of money and I had already graduated from undergrad,” Saka said. “But Southwest was affordable and Coach Corey was willing to give me a lot of responsibilities that I wanted at the time. So I just felt like it was right.”
And so with the culture shock of a lifetime awaiting in Mississippi, Saka made the nearly 7,000-mile trip from Osaka to Summit to take the first major step of his hoops journey.
The manager grind
As a student manager for the team, Saka wore plenty of hats.
During his first year, his day-to-day responsibilities included doing laundry, being a practice dummy, rebounding and passing for drills as well as making sure water was taken care of on game days.
“Coach Corey had said that the first year would be a test in a way, to see what I’m capable of,” Saka said. “And so I decided to go back for a second year because there would be a lot more responsibility.”
To that point, Schmidt put a lot more on Saka’s plate in Year Two, and the sophomore was ready for it all.
Saka’s second season saw him edit film, scout opponents and make highlights and graphics on top of the responsibilities he had from the previous year. But if anything, he was glad to shoulder the extra workload.
“I was grateful for every moment, because it’s just been a completely different world here,” Saka said. “This past year I really enjoyed getting to work more with players and seeing how our practice work translated to games. And just being around my teammates and coaches more off the court was great.”
Saka notably became close with plenty of SMCC athletes, as he helped with private training sessions and designed commitment graphics for the players that moved on to four-year schools. Looking back on his time in Summit, it was those relationships and the many memories that stemmed from them that stand out to Saka.
The life of a manager can certainly be a taxing one, and with so much to juggle at times, being overwhelmed can be a common side effect of the position.
But Saka never let that faze him, and he was as reliable as he was helpful according to Schmidt.
“Tomo helped our program in countless ways from daily laundry to scouting reports, and all the while he was taking classes and graduated with a 3.5 GPA,” Schmidt said. “He’s a hard worker, no task is beneath him and he’s willing to help the program in any way. Those types of people are rare.”
Of course, the aforementioned culture shock did take its toll on Saka.
One would be hard-pressed to find places that are more different than the sprawling Osaka and tight-knit Summit, but Saka only noted two things that caused him to make major adjustments.
Like most foreign athletes that voyage to America, food selection was the first thing Saka mentioned as being a drastic change.
“The biggest thing was food. I love Japanese food, and I think it’s the best in the world,” Saka said. “So it can be hard to adjust for two years elsewhere, because the food at Southwest was good but I was always looking forward to going home and having Japanese food again.”
He added that, as a somewhat new English speaker, understanding the different accents and slangs used in a place such as south Mississippi took him a while to fully grasp.
But Saka had a goal in mind when he was young, and thus he knew what he was getting himself into.
“I always wanted to come to the U.S., so I was aware that it would be a culture adjustment,” Saka said. “I was ready for it, so I was never really homesick. I’ve just always wanted these kinds of opportunities.”
Pursuit of a dream
Graduation ceremonies have gone and gone, meaning that Saka is again searching for his next basketball opportunity.
After he helps a professional trainer with NBA Draft workouts in Arkansas, Saka will return to Japan and begin to pursue his next dream, one that might just bring him back across the Pacific.
“My next goal is to be a graduate assistant at the Division-I level,” Saka said. “That’s what I’m looking for now, but my long-term goal is to coach at the professional level, whether that’s in the States or in another country.”
While the search for Saka’s next stop is ongoing, Schmidt is more than confident that wherever he ends up, his former manager will be an integral part of any program.
“Tomo is going to be a great addition for any team that hires him as a GA,” Schmidt said. “He can help in so many ways because he prepared himself well by practicing with all the softwares he’d need while he was here, either through getting free trials or coming to my office to use my subscriptions. He’s a go-getter that wants to help a program win.”
Saka is incredibly thankful for the opportunities he was given at Southwest, and he hopes to use much of what he learned wherever he ends up next.
And all the while, he will serve as a shining example of how the love of basketball truly knows no bounds.
