When University of Portland (Ore.) point guard Taishi Ito was asked to take on a leadership role as a freshman, he handled the role admirably.
He started the final 15 games of the 2006-07 season. He helped his team earn its first West Coast Conference tournament victory in more than a decade last March, scoring a team-high 16 points in a 55-41 first-round triumph over Loyola Marymount University.
"Those games gave me more confidence for this year," Ito said in a recent telephone interview with The Japan Times.