DeMatha Off to the Land of the Rising Sun

Ron Bailey, Publisher

May 2, 2007 – If you thought DeMatha Catholic High School’s (MD) 2006-2007 season, in which the boy’s team went 28-6, captured its third straight Washington Catholic Athletic Association and City (D.C.) crowns, while traveling to Missouri, Texas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, West Virginia, and Virginia, was something to remember, think again: The Stags have one heckuva finale ahead of them – a trip to Noshiro, Japan and a slot in that city’s Noshiro Cup.

Before departing yesterday for Japan via 15 hours of flight time, assistant coach Dave Adkins shared the team’s trip allows them to “represent DeMatha High School and the United States of America”, while also affording players and coaches an opportunity to “experience Japanese culture”, as well as basketball played by international rules.

Consisting of all age groups, DeMatha will compete with five other high school aged teams during the Noshiro Cup, with each squad playing five games in three days. Held in Noshiro, a town on the outskirts of Tokyo, one of the Stag’s prime competitors will be Noshiro Technical High School. This institution, which Adkin’s dubbed “the DeMatha of Japan”, boasts as a graduate Yuta Tabuse, the NBA’s first Japanese-born player and current member of the National Basketball Association Developmental League’s Bakersfield Jam.

Jerai Grant (left), seen here at the recent Capital Classic, is one of 12 DeMatha players current in Japan, for the Noshiro Cup.

The event is considered the fourth largest national sporting tournament in Japan, with Japanese teams that do well earning an automatic berth to the country’s national tournament.

Adkins, himself a Noshiro Cup veteran having attended last year as a member of Montrose Christian’s staff, described the event’s opening ceremonies as awe-inspiring and “Olympic-like”, which take place in a facility he likened to “G.W.’s (George Washington University’s Smith Center) gym”. Additionally, all practices and games are conducted their as well.

Before returning to the U.S. next Monday, the team will return to Tokyo on Sunday, where a day of sightseeing and exploration is planned.

Good luck Stags, and truly enjoy a once in a lifetime opportunity.