Rookie guard Keijiro "K.J." Matsui has made a successful transition from Columbia University to the Japan Basketball League.
Now playing for the Rera Kamuy Hokkaido, Matsui is scoring 10.7 points per game through the season's first eight games. The team, however, has struggled to a 3-5 start, including an 88-86 loss on Sunday to the Link Tochigi Brex.
A top-caliber 3-point shooter in college, the Tokyo native has carried that trademark into the pros. Matsui has made 18 of 32 3-points shots (56.2 percent). He's also made 11 of 21 2-pointers and 10 of 14 attempts at the free-throw line.
Matsui, considered the first pure Japanese to play Division I men's college basketball in the United States, wrapped up his collegiate career in the spring.
Entering this week's slate of games, Tochigi's Takuya Kawamura, who played in the NBA Summer League for the Phonenix Suns in 2009, is the league's leading scorer (24.3 ppg), while Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Dolphins forward Eric Dawson is No. 2 (16.8).