How is high-school star Yuki Kawamura playing in Japan's professional B.League?

TOKYO (Japan) - The crowd began a big round of applause as Yuki Kawamura made his way to the substitution bench on January 25 for San-en Neo Phoenix. There were 3:41 minutes left in the first quarter in their Japanese B.League game against Chiba Jets.

It was a memorable moment for the diminutive point guard. He was now the youngest player ever to play in a B.League game. A few moments later, he would also become the youngest player to ever score in a B.League game as well.

It was a successful debut in this professional league after Kawamura has been viewed as one of the best players in the country… at the high school level.

Kawamura has been the star of Fukuoka Daiichi, leading the school to back-to-back All-Japan High School Tournament titles. He's been a leader of the youth Japan national teams, most recently at the U18 Asian Championship in 2018. Now he's getting the chance to play with professional stars like reigning B.League MVP Yuki Togashi as well as foreign players like Robert Dozier and Josh Duncan.

The 1.69M (5'7") floor general will turn 19 in May this year. He'll also be headed to enroll at Tokai University. Nonetheless, he's been able to make an early leap into the professional ranks while maintaining his amateur status by taking advantage of the "Special Designated Player" quotas allocated to teams in the B.League.

"In addition to 10-13 normal players in a team, it is possible to register up to two special designated players in the B.League during the season," explained Takeshi Ogami, a representative from the Youth & Development Department of the Japan Professional Basketball League.

Unlike regular player contracts, Ogami added that these special designated players can play in the professional ranks of the B.League while still registering with their affiliation as in their schools or universities.

"There is a significant impact [on the B.League]. There is no doubt that competition has been created, and the league has been revitalized as young players play in the B.League using this system," Ogami added. "There was no system like this before B.League started, so the fact that this system created a chance for players under the age of 22 to be able to play on professional courts would have had a big impact on the Japan basketball, too."

The system was implemented ever since the inaugural B.League season back in 2016-2017. It has impacted the B.League itself and Japan basketball, injecting both with a new group of youthful, hungry players to develop for the future.

The teams themselves have been gladly utilizing the "Special Designated Player" roster spots with growing interest as each season goes by. The number of special designated players has risen each and every year, though the 2019-2020 season, in particular, has seen a 33.3 percent spike as referenced from Ogami.

Kawamura had 8 points and 3 assists in his debut. He followed that up immediately in the next game up by exploding for 21 points on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc, including some fun clashes with the older Yuki Togashi.

In the 11 games he's played so far, Kawamura has started in 7 games, averaging 12.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. His scoring average is even up among the top 5 of all non-foreign players in the B.League right now.

Kawamura's case is a remarkable case of the success of the "Special Designated Player System", considering how well he's doing as a fresh high school graduate. However, he's hardly the only one who has benefitted from this system.

18-year-old Keijiro Mitani is another high-schooler playing in the B.League this season, suiting up for the Division 2 Hiroshima Dragonflies. 22-year-old Hiromu Nakamura has been a key piece for the likely playoff-bound Osaka Evessa, averaging 6.6 points and 3.3 assists in 21.0 minutes per game over 19 games played. Both are occupying the "Special Designated Player" spots on their teams this season.

At the 41^st William Jones Cup in 2019, Gen Hiraiwa and Taiji Nakamura were named to the Japan national team. Both had previously played in the B.League as "Special Designated Players".

"Since the first year of the B.League, many clubs have used the 'Special Designated Player' System to provide professional game opportunities to promising players under the age of 22. From those results, we think everyone has succeeded," said Ogami.

The future for the Akatsuki Five with Rui Hachimura, Yuta Watanabe, and Yudai Baba is bright as it is. Now with the growing success of the "Special Designated Player System" in the B.League, there may be even more promising prospects - like Yuki Kawamura - to add to the list further down the road.

FIBA