Yasutaka Okayama

Yasutaka Okayama
Personal information
Born (1954-11-29) November 29, 1954
Mashiki, Kumamoto
Nationality Japanese
Listed height 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m)
Listed weight 305 lb (138 kg)
Career information
High school Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto, Kumamoto)
College
NBA draft 1981 / Round: 8 / Pick: 240th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career 1979–1990
Position Center
Coaching career 1993–present
Career history
As player:
1979-1990 Sumitomo Metal Sparks
As coach:
1993-1995 Sumitomo Metal Sparks (asst)
1996-1999 Osaka University of Commerce (asst)
Career highlights and awards

As player:

  • 2x JBL Scoring Leader (1981,82)
  • 5x JBL Best Five (1979-83)
  • 3x JBL Rebound Leader (1979, 81, 82)

Yasutaka Okayama (岡山 恭崇, Okayama Yasutaka, born November 29, 1954 in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese basketball player.[1] He was selected by the Golden State Warriors as the 10th pick of the eighth round of the 1981 Draft, although he did not sign with them.[2][3] At 7'8" (234 cm), he is the tallest player ever to be drafted in NBA history.

Okayama practiced Judo at junior high school and high school, and obtained a second degree black belt. He started playing basketball when he was eighteen at Osaka University of Commerce. He attended the University of Portland but never played for their basketball program as he was a project. After graduation, he joined the basketball club of Sumitomo Metal Sparks. He represented Japan between 1979 and 1986 before he retired in 1996. He still works for Sumitomo Metal Industries and is very active as a basketball coach.[4] He has also written a book for young basketball players.[5]

References

  1. ↑ NBA.com: Draft Oddities
  2. ↑ 1981 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com
  3. ↑ BBC SPORT | Other Sport | US Sport | Rising Sun creates Japanese first
  4. ↑ Sports Just magazine, April–May issue 2005 at the Wayback Machine (archived March 7, 2008)
  5. ↑ Tanoshii Basuketto Boru


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