Kai Toews
{{short description|Japanese basketball player}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Kai Toews
| image =テーブス海 cropped from 202401271812 DSCN7198.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Toews with Alvark Tokyo in 2024
| position = Point guard
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 180
| league = B.League
| team = Alvark Tokyo
| number = 3
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1998|09|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
| high_school =
| college = UNC Wilmington (2018–2019)
| draft_year = 2020
| career_start = 2020
| years1 = 2020–2022
| team1 = Utsunomiya Brex
| years2 = 2022–2023
| team2 = Shiga Lakes
| years3 = 2023–present
| team3 = Alvark Tokyo
| highlights =
- CAA All-Rookie Team (2019)
| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's basketball}}
{{MedalCountry|{{bk|JPN}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|William Jones Cup}}
{{MedalBronze|2019 Taiwan|}}
}}
Kai Toews (テーブス海, born September 17, 1998) is a Japanese professional basketball player for Alvark Tokyo of the B. League.
Early life
Toews grew up playing soccer before starting to play basketball in fourth grade. His father, former professional player BT Toews, taught him the fundamentals of the game.{{cite web |last1=Jenkins |first1=Venita |title=Kai Toews '22 |url=https://uncw.edu/profiles/toews_kai.html |website=UNC Wilmington |accessdate=March 27, 2020 |date=October 19, 2019}} Growing up, Toews cited Allen Iverson as his favorite basketball player. Toews attended Keihoku High School for his freshman and sophomore years and was recruited by Japanese universities but had higher ambitions.{{cite news |last1=Odeven |first1=Ed |title=UNC Wilmington's Kai Toews bursts onto scene as dynamic passer in freshman season |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/01/24/basketball/unc-wilmingtons-kai-toews-bursts-onto-scene-dynamic-passer-freshman-season/#.Xn5JbIhKi1s |accessdate=March 27, 2020 |work=Japan Times |date=January 24, 2019}} Toews moved to the United States and attended the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts for two years.{{cite news |last1=Odeven |first1=Ed |title=UNCW's Kai Toews leaves school to pursue pro career in Japan |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/12/24/basketball/uncws-kai-toews-leaves-school-pursue-pro-career-japan/#.Xn5AvYhKi1s |accessdate=March 27, 2020 |work=Japan Times |date=December 24, 2019}} In his senior season, Toews helped the team to a 31–4 record and the New England Prep Class AAA Championship, earned honorable mention All-NEPSAC honors. UNC Wilmington coach C.B. McGrath offered Toews a scholarship, after seeing him play when McGrath was an assistant at North Carolina.
College career
On November 25, 2018, Toews had a career-high 14 assists against Eastern Illinois. As a freshman, Toews started 32 of 33 games and averaged 8.8 points, 7.7 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. He finished second in NCAA Division I in assists per game, behind only Murray State's Ja Morant. He set the Colonial Athletic Association single-season assists record with 253 and was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Toews was a finalist for the 2019 Kyle Macy Award presented by CollegeInsider.com to the nation's top freshman basketball player. In his sophomore season, Toews started 12 of 13 games for UNC Wilmington and averaged 5.5 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game.{{cite news |title=PG Toews leaving UNCW to pursue professional basketball career |url=https://www.wect.com/2019/12/23/pg-toews-leaving-uncw-pursue-professional-basketball-career/ |accessdate=March 27, 2020 |work=WECT |date=December 23, 2019}} After the team's game against Vanderbilt on December 21, 2019, Toews announced he was leaving the team to pursue professional opportunities. “Obviously, it was a total surprise to us,” coach McGrath said. Toews finished his career with 362 points, 112 rebounds and 309 assists.
Professional career
=Utsunomiya Brex (2020–2022)=
On January 10, 2020, Toews signed a professional contract with the Utsunomiya Brex in Japan.{{cite news |last1=Smist |first1=John |title=Kai Toews signs professional contract |url=https://www.wect.com/2020/01/10/kai-toews-signs-professional-contract/ |accessdate=March 27, 2020 |work=WECT |date=January 10, 2020}}
=Shiga Lakes (2022–2023)=
=Alvark Tokyo (2023–present)=
National team career
Toews has played for Japan's Under-15 and Under-19 national teams. Toews competed for Japan in the 2019 William Jones Cup in Taiwan.{{cite news |last1=Nagatsuka |first1=Kaz |title=Japan coaches thinking long term for young hoop prospects |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/06/15/basketball/japan-coaches-thinking-long-term-young-hoop-prospects/#.Xn5IiohKi1s |accessdate=March 27, 2020 |work=Japan Times |date=June 15, 2019}}
Personal life
His cousin Jonathan Toews played for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League from 2007 to 2023.{{cite web |title=Winter Athletes Finish Triumphant Season |url=https://www.nmhschool.org/news-events/news-stories/post/~board/news-and-events-board/post/winter-athletes-finish-triumphant-season |website=Northfield Mount Hermon School |accessdate=March 27, 2020 |date=March 14, 2018 |archive-date=March 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327185239/https://www.nmhschool.org/news-events/news-stories/post/~board/news-and-events-board/post/winter-athletes-finish-triumphant-season |url-status=dead }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Kai Toews}}
- [https://uncwsports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/kai-toews/6207 UNC Wilmington Seahawks bio]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toews, Kai}}
Category:Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Category:Basketball players from Tokyo
Category:Japanese expatriate basketball people in the United States
Category:Japanese men's basketball players
Category:Olympic basketball players for Japan