Yeo Joon-seok 22 of Gonzaga did not have a significant performance in the debut season of the NCAA Division I league. Fortunately, expectations for his team are still high and positive.
"The analysis of Gonzaga's basketball team staff found almost similarities with Rui Hachimura 26, Japan from Yeo Jun-seok in the first year of NCAA Division I in official games and tasks requiring restrained play," the U.S. daily newspaper "Kör Dallen Press" reported on June 27.
The "Kör Dallen Press" is a local newspaper in Idaho. Idaho is close to Washington state, where the University of Gonzaga is located. Yeo recorded an average of 6.9 minutes and 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in 25 games for 2023-24 Gonzaga.
Rui Hachimura is one of Japan's leading stars, not just in basketball but in sports as a whole, as evidenced by his men's flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 32nd Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021.
In his third year in Gonzaga, Rui Hachimura was named No. 9 in the first round of the 2019 NBA Rookie Draft by the Washington Wizards, declaring his entry into the professional league based on the best small forward Julius Irving Award and the West Coast Conference WCC Most Valuable Player Award.
Rui Hachimura was also recognized as one of the top players in the NCAA Division I through the selection of the best five players in the 2017-18 WCC. Gonzaga's coaching staff recalled Hachimura 2016-17 from Yeo Jun-seok from 2023-24.
A Gonzaga staff member said, "Yeo Joon-seok dominated Asia just like Rui Hachimura. Top stars in other continents are learning the top basketball league in the U.S. during their first season." The two players have something in common: a 203cm-tall small forward.
"Yeo Jun-seok should be able to show good height, strength, and athletic ability based on positions such as NCAA Division 1 according to the overall structure and organization of Gonzaga, which the coaches want for both offense and defense," said "Kör Dallen Press."
Yeo Jun-seok explains that the second-year Gonzaga staff in the first division of the U.S. college basketball league is classified as a "wild card." It is difficult to say that the first season's performance alone is eligible to play, but it means that there will be an opportunity to prove that he can show more potential.
Rui Hachimura moved to the Los Angeles Lakers, a prestigious club that ranks second with the most wins last year, after playing in the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year 10 Rookie Second Team. He was the 12th most effective three-point shooter in the 2023-24 NBA regular season.
With 48.5 percent accuracy of three points in this year's playoffs, Korea ranked second in the NBA. Gonzaga University, the strongest team in the West Coast Conference, which boasts 28 regular-league wins and 21 tournament wins, compares Yeo Joon-seok to Rui Hachimura, which means a lot to the team.
In the first season of the NCAA Division I, Yeo Jun-seok's 40-minute conversion contribution to victory is 0.110. Although the statistics suggest that he was 1.1 times better than that of an ordinary player, it is not an individual's performance that Gonzaga can guarantee for a certain amount of time in his second year.
Yeo Joon-seok's average contribution to 25.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.1 steals was 24.7 while Korea finished 15th in the 15th FIBA Under-19 World Cup in 2021, which he participated in when he was in Yongsan High School.
The top scorer and player contribution also topped the list, becoming the first Korean to win two individual titles at the U-19 World Cup. It ranked in the top five in four categories, including the second place in rebounds and the fifth place in steals. Attention is focusing on whether the team will be able to explode its potential in the second season of the NCAA Division I. 프라그마틱 슬롯 사이트