page_title: Yuta Watanabe
section_title: National team career
hierarchical_section_title: Yuta Watanabe / National team career
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: バスケットボール男子日本代表、渡邊雄太選手。ゼビオアリーナ仙台で。
context_page_description: Yuta Watanabe is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association, on a two-way contract with the Memphis Hustle of the NBA G League. He played college basketball in the United States for the George Washington Colonials after becoming the first Japan-born student athlete to secure an NCAA Division I basketball scholarship. He was named the Atlantic 10 Conference's defensive player of the year in 2018. He has also represented Japan internationally and helped the team win the bronze medal at the 2013 East Asia Basketball Championship.
  Before moving to the collegiate level, Watanabe attended Jinsei Gakuen High School in Zentsūji, Kagawa. He later transferred to St. Thomas More Preparatory School in Oakdale, Connecticut in 2013. Watanabe rose to fame with this high school program, and was one of their most valuable players in the National Prep School Invitational as a senior in 2014. In college, he became the fourth Japanese-born Division I basketball player of all-time.
context_section_description: Japan national basketball team head coach Kimikazu Suzuki previously oversaw Watanabe's play in camps, saying at the time, "He's not good enough to be on this team yet, but eventually he's going to be [Japan's] ace player. We all know his capabilities and we intend to help him develop." Later while attending Jinsei Gakuen High School, Watanabe was called up by Suzuki to compete with the national team in 2013. He made his debut on the international stage at the 2013 East Asia Basketball Championship and stayed with Japan for the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. At the event, Watanabe averaged 5.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in four games played. He helped the team finish in ninth place.
caption: Watanabe with the Japanese national team
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