Jacobs hungry to finally show his potential for Japan

DEBRECEN (Hungary) - Akira Jacobs came to Hungary for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 with a number of reasons to be excited. And the Japan star prospect hopes he can lead his country to a historic result ahead of another major highlight still to come this summer.

"The highest we have been in the U19 World Cup is 10th (in 2017). So we are trying to be in the top 8."

Jacobs is thrilled to be on the global stage, especially after watching the 2021 U19 World Cup - including one game in particular.

"The biggest thing I remember was the last Final - with Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. That was the first time I really noticed and was paying attention to the U19 tournament and watched it. I thought that could be me in a couple of years, and now I am here, so this is exciting," said Jacobs, who led Japan in scoring with 25 points to go with 9 rebounds and 6 assists in their second game - an 82-70 win over Egypt.

Jacobs playing such a major role in the game was kind of questionable after he missed most of the first contest due to a thigh injury that limited him to 9 points in 15 minutes. It was a bit of deja vu for Japan fans as Jacobs actually missed nearly the entire FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2022, where Japan qualified for the U19 World Cup. 

"I feel I didn't really fully experience playing for team Japan. So this is just an even bigger opportunity and at an even higher level to show my improvement and ready to perform," said Jacobs, who was injured in the second game and had to rely on his teammates for the qualification.

"That shows how much talent we have in Japan. Every single one of them is extremely talented. And I am excited that I can be part of this group again."

Jacobs is one of Japan's biggest hopefuls for the future. He was born in Japan to a United States military father and Japanese mother. The family moved to southern California a couple of months after he was born. After a number of visits to Japan growing up, Jacobs moved back to Asia when he was 16 in December 2020.

"I learned Japanese and spoke Japanese all the time with the family in America and always loved the culture. Once I was able to move back to Japan it just felt more like home for me," he said. "As soon as I moved to Japan my opportunities in basketball grew so much more."

Jacobs left his mark on Japanese basketball pretty quick. After joining the Yokohama B-Corsairs professional team in 2021 as a special designated player, he made history on November 13, 2021 by becoming the youngest player to play in the first division of the B.League at 17 years and 7 months old. On 3 February, 2022, he became the youngest player in the history of the B.League to score in a game at 17 years, 9 months, and 20 days old.

"That is something I was very happy about. I feel like I could have done more, but just getting that experience of playing with professionals for a whole season was great - not just on the court but off the court," he said. "A lot of veterans taught me things other than just basketball. It was just a great experience. Being youngest was cool but there is a lot more after that. You don’t want to end with just being the youngest."

After one history-making season in the B.League, Jacobs was offered a spot in the NBA Global Academy in Australia last season. And he cherished his experience there, leading to a scholarship to play at the University of Hawaii starting in the fall.

But between the U19 World Cup and his start in Hawaii, there is another highlight for Jacobs as he was included in the Japan senior national team's extended roster for training camp ahead of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

"In a previous U19 camp I talked to Coach (Tom) Hovasse and he talked about my potential and how he could see me fitting into the senior national team. Once he mentioned that he wanted to call me to the camp I was pretty excited about that," he added.

"Playing in the youth national team categories, the goal was to play in the senior national team. It happened a lot faster than I expected it to. I expected the 2028 Olympics, and I 100 percent want to be there. But to have a chance to be there earlier and seeing the people who are on that extended roster too - Yuta Watanabe, Rui Hachimura, others - it's crazy to think that I will be there and playing against those guys and competing against them and learning from them."

Jacobs knows he will be challenged by the physicality of the training camp but he can’t wait to learn from the others.

"Different ways of maneuvering past defenses, learning how to read defenses at certain times, how to read spacing. These guys are really smart. Just being on the court you are going to see things that you have never seen before. So you can ask the guys who have experienced that, and from there I can get a lot better."

Jacobs still has a goal for his time in Debrecen - make history with Japan.

“The highest we have been in the U19 World Cup is 10th (in 2017). So we are trying to be in the top 8,” he said

Given Jacobs' recent run of successful achievements, that would not be a surprise.

FIBA