Shinsaku Eonomoto: From mixtape audition to hot commodity in Japan

HIROSHIMA (Japan) - Shinsaku Enomoto is returning to play in Japan once again after being a representative on the youth national team at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 in Egypt. After being courted by several teams in Japan’s B.League, it was announced that he is bound to play for the Hiroshima Dragonflies in the upcoming season.

“I am very excited to return to my home country of Japan and start my career as a professional basketball player with the Hiroshima Dragonflies,” Enomoto said in the announcement.

Enomoto, known as Isaiah Murphy in the US, said he had interest from 8-10 teams before narrowing down to his final selection.

“It all came at once,” Enomoto said in an interview on KGUN9. “It was definitely surprising, for sure.”

The way teams were clamoring for Enomoto to join their squads was certainly in contrast to how he had arrived on the Japanese basketball scene in the first place. It took a long shot by his mother, Susako, to send in his high school mixtape to the youth national team to get a tryout back in 2017.

She took him by surprise in telling him about the opportunity, but Enomoto said it was a “no-brainer” and that he was “definitely all for it”, as per Japan Times.

"I ended up trying out and making the team," Enomoto told FIBA.basketball back in 2017. "It's definitely a pretty cool experience. I have always dreamt of representing my country. It feels good."

The shooting guard is a native of Okinawa. His American father James was stationed in Japan at the time for the American Armed Forces. James has continuously convinced his son to take up professional basketball after playing collegiately in the US for the past four years and that is the path that Shinsaku will take for now at Hiroshima.

In the B.League, Japan basketball fans will now get a better opportunity to watch Enomoto in action. He had some promising games in Cairo as teammates with Rui Hachimura and now has a chance to show off to his Japanese fans how much he has improved since.

At the U17 World Cup, Enomoto averaged 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game for Japan. He continued to improve his game from there, wrapping up his last two collegiate seasons at Eastern New Mexico with averages of 8.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per contest. This can give fans a bit of an idea of what to expect from the 22-year-old in the upcoming season.

As told to Japan Times, Enomoto expressed his confidence in his versatility while taking a lot of pride in his ability to play defense.

“I can put it on the floor. I can shoot, I can play defense. I think that’s one of my biggest things playing through my career. I do it on both ends. I just score, get on a run, but I like to play defense as well.”

“This past year at Eastern New Mexico, every game, I was guarding the other team’s leader,” said Enomoto. “I like to defend.”

Youth national team head coach, Torsten Loibl, speaks highly of Enomoto about his qualities both on and off the court as well. Though the German tactician notes three-point shooting as an area the talented youngster could improve to be among the best in the B.League, he also highly regards Enomoto’s skills as a slasher, defender, athlete, and facilitator.

This should all be greatly satisfying to hear, not only for the fans of the Hiroshima Dragonflies but also for the Akatsuki Five faithful.

Already one of the most promising national teams in Asia with seemingly unlimited potential, Enomoto could very well be another talented piece to the core of young guns. Therefore, it’s reassuring to hear that Enomoto plans to play until his legs fall off which will hopefully be for 10 more years.

From applying for a youth national team tryout with a mixtape to being heavily recruited to play professionally, Shinsaku Enomoto’s journey through basketball has been unlike many have had on the hardwood. That’s why it will be highly intriguing to witness how far he can continue to rise, especially with Japan basketball.

FIBA