JAPAN fans were expecting Washington Wizards winger Rui Hachimura or Toronto Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe to lead the charge in the third window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark.
But instead, it was Gavin Edwards who manned the paint for the Akatsuki Five's first game against China on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-9 center was one of the two naturalized players Japan coach Julio Lamas brought for the Clark window, the other being Ryan Rossiter.
Filipino fans may have already seen Edwards before as he played as an import for coach Ariel Vanguardia at Westports KL Dragons in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) from 2012 to 2013 and played alongside Mo Tautuaa and Justin Melton.
Edwards, 33, has also had stints in Korea and Ukraine before settling in Japan starting in 2013, where he played for the Aisin SeaHorses (now-SeaHorses Mikawa) and later the Chiba Jets in 2017.
He was instrumental in Chiba's championship run this past 2020-21 B.League season, averaging 13.0 points on 62-percent shooting, to go with 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 25.8 minutes.
Unfortunately, he could not provide the same impact in his Japanese national team debut, racking only eight points, six boards, three assists, and two steals in 21 minutes of play before fouling out with 6:58 remaining.
Japan lost to China, 66-57.
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