For Akira Jacobs, the whirlwind schedule began after he competed for Japan in the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary.
Traveling from Japan, Jacobs joined the Hawaii basketball team July 28, participated in a clinic on Kauai the next day, went through 10 2-hour practices, and now is set to leave today with the Rainbow Warriors on an 11-day goodwill tour of Japan.
“He’s really homesick,” UH coach Eran Ganot mused. “It’s been eight days.”
Jacobs and director of operations Cody Kelley, who was an assistant coach with the Chiba Jets the past two seasons, will provide travel tips. The ’Bows will play four exhibitions against a mixture of pro and amateur teams while visiting Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nagoya and Chiba.
“For the team, it’ll be our first game against another team,” Jacobs said. “It’ll be good to see how we implement what we’ve been practicing.”
The NCAA permits Division I teams to go on an international tour once every four years. The ’Bows went on a tour to Australia in 2018. The next available year was 2022. But because of COVID-related restrictions, Ganot decided to set this year for a tour.
Soon after Ganot was hired in 2015, he recalled thinking, “we wanted to be a national program and do what the best are doing, which is take a tour every four years.” He said Japan was chosen because of the “synergy and relationship” with Hawaii.
During the summer, Division I coaches are permitted to conduct on-court work with players for four hours each week. But teams that are going on international tours are allowed 10 full practices.
“Most people when they hear about the tour they think about the country and the games,” Ganot said. “The reality is the 10 practices, the travel together, the hotel, the bus, the bullet train coming up. Those are bonding experiences.”
The ’Bows have nine returnees, including starting guards JoVon McClanahan and Noel Coleman, and center Bernardo da Silva. Point guard Juan Munoz, who has overcome three ACL injuries and a ruptured Achilles tendon, earned another medical exemption that will allow him to play as an eighth-year college athlete. Justin McCoy, a 6-8 post who previously played at Virginia and North Carolina, and Jacobs, a 6-8 wing with dual American and Japanese citizenship, are among the newcomers.
Jacobs said he committed to UH ahead of the Japan tour being finalized. “Even before learning about the trip, Hawaii felt like the right place for me,” Jacobs said, noting the tour “was kind of like the cherry on top.”
