Japan women's national basketball team assistant coach Tom Hovasse recalled that Ramu Tokashiki "was just a kid" when she made her WJBL debut right out of high school.
But Tokashiki kept growing as a player, day in and day out, and has now reached the elite level in the women's game on the global stage, the WNBA. And for all these years, Hovasse, who also serves as an assistant for the WJBL's JX-Eneos Sunflowers, has watched Tokashiki and pushed her to bring out the best in her.
"That's been our goal," Hovasse said, when asked if the WNBA was Tokashiki's objective since she joined the Sunflowers in 2010. "It hasn't been easy. She came in as an 18-year-old kid. Her practice routine wasn't good."