Isaiah Kimbrough is the reigning MVP for two-time defending Far East D-I champion Kinnick. (Cynthia Abel/Special to Stripes)
Not only is Isaiah Kimbrough famed for being the reigning Most Valuable Player for two-time defending Far East champion Nile C. Kinnick.
He’s also now known as the guy who’s been seen on TV.
The Red Devils senior forward was No. 2 on Wednesday’s ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 list with an over-the-shoulder toss from center court that hit nothing but net at the end of the first quarter of Kinnick’s 73-41 win over St. Maur.
“It’s still a shock,” Kimbrough said. “I didn’t expect the shot to go in, and that it was on TV, that was also crazy.”
So now that he’s been seen on TV the world over, can he and the Red Devils get back to the business at hand – trying to win their third straight Far East Division I Tournament title?
They and seven other teams will find out starting Monday as the D-I tournament gets underway on the Red Devils’ home court for the second straight year.
“There’s always pressure,” Kimbrough said of being a two-time champion and reigning MVP. “You always have a target on your back, being the MVP, being defending champion, my performance this season. It just adds to it.”
Kimbrough and teammates Kai Eccelston and Jesse Brooks take a 19-3 record into the tournament against, among others, the last two teams to finish behind Kinnick – last year’s runner-up St. Mary’s and 2024 runner-up Kadena.
The Panthers, led by shooting ace Jaden Patsel and inside force Kent Bissell, are 16-2, their only losses coming against Japanese teams.
“We watched the film of the Kinnick (final) two years ago,” which the Panthers lost on a buzzer-beating shot, Kadena coach Antiwon Tucker said. “Just to put a taste in their mouths. It can always come down to that last possession.”
Though Kadena won the American School In Japan Kanto Classic last week, Tucker’s players “are not satisfied. They got back to practice Monday. No days off,” he said.
He and his players say they know it’ll be tough to win at Kinnick and to beat the Titans four times in a season.
“It’s going to take every play, every second, every minute,” Tucker said. “You want that first-round (playoff) bye. And the unknown is always Humphreys” whom none of the other teams have seen yet.
Kinnick's Kai Eccelston and his teammates want to make it three straight D-I titles, but Yujiro Kato and St. Mary's are among those who plan to play roadblocks. (Lauren Casey/Special to Stripes)
Ren Nishioka and St. Mary's, Jasen Nii and Kadena will be looking to unseat two-time D-I champion Kinnick. (Cynthia Abel/Special to Stripes)
Kent Bissell and Kadena have won eight Far East D-I tournament titles, but none since 2010. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Trying and vying to repeat. Kai Eccelston and Isaiah Kimbrough of Kinnick, going for a third straight D-I title; Asher Jorgensen, Airi Smith and Zama aiming for back-to-back D-II titles. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)
Casey Stewart and Zama are trying for back-to-back D-II titles; Jesse Brooks and the Red Devils are going for a three-peat. (Jeunei Bodnar/Special to Stripes)
Zama (12-3), the defending Division II Far East champion, doesn’t lack for motivation either.
Bruce Davidson, Casey Stewart and the Trojans remain miffed over their quarterfinal defeat at the ASIJ Kanto Classic, coach Sentwali Helton said, and they’re carrying that feeling into next week’s D-II event at Osan.
“We’re not taking anybody lightly,” Helton said. “They want to dominate all the competition. They feel like everybody’s against them. The seniors, especially, they want to go back-to-back.”
Each tournament features pool play followed by single-elimination playoffs with consolation, running Monday through Wednesday.
