MATTHEW Aquino has been listed as a part of the 24-man pool for the Japanese national basketball team for the first window of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Matthew Aquino in Japan national team pool
The Japanese Basketball Association (JBA) bared the preliminary list on Monday and included the son of PBA great Marlou Aquino as part of its pool.
Aquino has recently signed with the Shinshu Brave Warriors in the B.League but has been sparingly used so far in his rookie season in the pro league.
He has only played one game against the Akita Northern Happinets, tallying two points and two rebounds, with his other taste of the action coming in the 97th Emperor's Cup.
The 6-foot-9 Aquino holds a Japanese passport which makes him a local in the B.League and eligible to play for the Akatsuki Five in international competitions.
Aside from Aquino, familiar faces include his Shinshu teammate Yudai Okada, as well as Bobby Ray Parks' peers in Nagoya Diamond Dolphins namely Tenketsu Harimoto, Yutaro Suda, and Takumi Saito.
Present for the Akatsuki Five are familiar faces led by Makoto Hiejima, Yuki Togashi, Shuto Ando, Avi Koki Schafer, and Kosuke Takeuchi.
Completing the pool are Keita Imamura and Ryuichi Kishimoto (Ryukyu Golden Kings), Yuma Fujii (Kawasaki Brave Thunders), Shuta Hara (Chiba Jets), Leo Vendrame (SunRockers Shibuya), Yudai Nishida (SeaHorses Mikawa), Ryo Terashima (Hiroshima Dragonflies), Aki Chambers and Kengo Nomoto (Gunma Crane Thunders), Eliet Donley and Zack Moore (Osaka Evessa), Masaaki Morikawa (Yokohama B-Corsairs), and Takatoshi Furukawa (Akita Northern Happinets).
Fighting Eagles Nagoya's Luke Evans is slotted as the naturalized player for the Japan in this window, which will be the first under new head coach Tom Hovasse.
Japan, slotted in Group B, is scheduled to face China in a pair of games this Nov. 27 and 28 at the Xebio Arena in Sendai to start their campaign in the Asian qualifiers.
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