NBA's Drafting of Hachimura Creates Buzz

Rui Hachimura takes part in Q-and-A with fellow Gonzaga international students. Photo courtesy Jose Angel
Rui Hachimura at Gonzaga.
June 21, 2019

Former Gonzaga Â鶹¹ÙÍø player Rui Hachimura became more widely known in the basketball world with his first-round selection in the 2019 NBA Draft on Thursday.

However, the potential off-the-court global impact of Hachimura is just as much a trending topic on the web.

  • The day after he was selected No. 9 by the Washington Wizards, ;
  • The New York Times had a feature article about how ; and
  • A post on Quartz.com predicted his diverse cultural background as .

Gonzaga fans remember Hachiumura the student – who came to GU with a desire to learn about basketball, but also to become better acclimated to American culture and language with the help of the university’s English Language Center. >>> Read: “Rui Hachimura Learns English”

Brandon Clarke, Hachimura’s teammate at Gonzaga, was also drafted in the first round, making the Zags duo the first in school history to achieve that status. >>> Read more at: