NEWS
NBA's Stephen Curry visits ICU
Update: June 25, 2019
The "Underrated Tour, powered by Rakuten," a basketball camp sponsored by Rakuten, Inc., with Stephen Curry of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, was held on June 22 (Sat.) and 23 (Sun.) at the ICU's Physical Education Center.
Curry, a three-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP, was underrated as a high school player and was not considered as star material. This camp is held with the aim of providing high school players who, like Curry, were overlooked despite having talent and ability, but want to be next-generation stars, the opportunity to bring out their abilities. The camp was first held in Los Angeles, U.S., in January 2019, and has now been held seven times in the country. This is the first time the camp was being held in Tokyo and the university's Physical Education Center A, completed in November 2018, with its striking wooden roof, design and ease of use as a venue was tapped as the venue for the event. The social significance of the camp resonated with the university, paving the way for the event to be held at ICU.
The camp was attended by some 80 Japanese high school students, who cleared a selection process in advance. After the first day's training, this was narrowed down to a further 30 players, and under the direction of Curry the players trained and played 3x3 format, etc. Curry said that the players were thoroughly focused and trained quite hard and he was able to strongly feel their eagerness to absorb as much as possible and become better, taking this opportunity. It was good to see the players' eyes light up listening to his advice and their determination to use it when they play next, he said. Hard work on a daily basis is indispensable to improve, but it is even more important to maintain high motivation and to have the zeal to become better, said Curry, who seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed his time with the high-schoolers.
