Hachimura's star is taking off

TOKYO (2016 Rio Olympics) - When Japan coach Kenji Hasegawa spoke in the aftermath of his team's fourth-place finish at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha-Hunan, he talked about something that had to take place for the national team if it planned on being successful in the future.

"I expect to see new talents and prospects and need to have fresh strengths and depth," he declared.

With that in mind, it's easy to identify Rui Hachimura as one who should soon find himself in the senior squad.

Will he be included in next summer's preliminary group of players that will train to take part in one of the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs)?

Japan clinched a berth by reaching the Semi-Finals at the continental championship in China this summer.

Hachimura, a 2.01m forward, is the hottest name in the Japanese game, at least in terms of emerging stars.

In the summer of 2014, he made heads turn with his performances at the FIBA U17 World Championship in Dubai.

Hachimura had a three-game scoring burst that caused a buzz.

He poured in 27 points against France, 25 against eventual champions USA and 35 against Italy.

A tremendous leaper with long arms, Hachimura did not lift his team to victory in any three of those contests and Japan only finished 14th out 16 teams.

But the player dazzled with his offensive skills and finished with the highest scoring average in the tournament at 22.6 points per game.

A recent development that suggests he is on the way up happened when Gonzaga announced that he had signed a letter of intent to play for the Zags in American college basketball.

"Rui Hachimura is a really interesting prospect with a high ceiling," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

"We're excited for him to be part of our future."

Plenty of well known international players have attended Gonzaga over the years.

France's Ronny Turiaf, Brazil's Joao Paulo Batista, Canada's Kevin Pangos were all Zags, as well as current members of the team, Przemyslaw Karnowski of Poland and Domantas Sabonis of Lithuania.

Both Karnowski and Sabonis featured at this year's EuroBasket.

Yuta Watanabe, a player in Japan's national team program who plays for George Washington University, tweeted kind words when he heard about Hachimura's decision to attend Gonzaga.

The future is bright for Hachimura.

It's a big ask for him to claim a spot in next year's squad for the OQT.

He is, after all, still only 17.

But it could happen.

When he does get his chance with the senior squad, be it next year or the year after, that is going to be something exciting to see.

FIBA