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[ODDS and EVENS] Keisei Tominaga on the Radar of the NBA's Talent Evaluators

In leading the Nebraska Cornhuskers in scoring as a senior, Keisei Tominaga proved he's an NBA prospect, longtime scouting guru Ryan Blake said.

Published

8 months ago

March 15, 2024

Ed Odeven

University of Nebraska guard Keisei Tominaga averaged a team-high 14.6 points per game in the 2023-24 season and helped the Cornhuskers earn a bye into the Big Ten Conference Tournament quarterfinals. (Dylan Widger/USA TODAY SPORTS)

Read the full story on SportsLook - [ODDS and EVENS] Keisei Tominaga on the Radar of the NBA's Talent Evaluators

Can Keisei Tominaga make the jump from college to the NBA in 2024?

Time will tell. But it appears that the University of Nebraska senior guard will have opportunities to exhibit his basketball skills for NBA talent evaluators after the Cornhuskers play their final game this spring.

As an aspiring NBA player, Tominaga has kept his name in the spotlight with several notable performances on offense over the past several months.

The Nagoya native was the team's leading scorer during the regular season. Averaging 14.6 points in his 29 games, he played a pivotal role in helping the Cornhuskers (22-9 overall, 12-8 in the Big Ten Conference) earn the No 3 seed for the Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

The tourney tipped off on Wednesday, March 13 in Minneapolis. Nebraska, which earned a bye into the conference tourney's quarterfinals, was set to play a TBD foe on Friday night (Saturday morning JST).

Recognition for His Successful Season

The 6-foot-2 (188-cm) Tominaga scored 20 or more points in six games during the regular season. He poured in 30 points on 12-for-17 shooting against the University of Michigan on March 10, and he scored a season-high 31 versus the University of Iowa on February 4.

After the win over Michigan, Cornhuskers coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters: "He got off to a great start and hit his first couple of shots. And when teams are running him off, one of the underrated parts of his game is his ability to cut and get to the basket."

On Tuesday, March 12, Tominaga was named to the 2023-24 All-Big Ten Second Team, as chosen by the conference's head coaches.

At the same time, he was looking ahead to compete in the postseason, first in the Big Ten Tournament and then the Cornhuskers' expected participation in the upcoming 68-team NCAA Men's Tournament, aka March Madness.

"That's one of my goals to come to the US to play in March Madness," Tominaga told reporters on Tuesday, "so I'm super excited about it. We've just got to keep playing hard so we don't have [any] regrets about it."

Keisei Tominaga: Pro Basketball Prospect

Does Tominaga's scoring ability translate to a possible future as an NBA player?

To gain some authoritative perspective on this topic, I reached out to Ryan Blake, a prominent NBA scouting consultant.

"Keisei Tominaga is a player that plays well within himself and well within the system," Blake told Odds and Evens. "He competes on both ends of the floor and those strengths have consistently improved."

Blake added, "Due to his size, the questions that will arise will be if he can play more of a point role and/or will he be able to defend bigger guards."

Continue reading the full story on SportsLook.

Author: Ed Odeven

Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.