Young Filipino-American basketball sensation Dwight Ramos announced on Friday, September 10, that he has signed with the Toyama Grouses in the Japan B. League.
Specifics of the deal were not disclosed by either Ramos or his new team, which finished as one of the top clubs in Division 1 of the 2020-2021 B. League season.
This development makes Ramos, 23, the eighth blue-chip talent from the Philippines to test his luck in Japan’s premier basketball tournament, joining the likes of Thirdy Ravena (San-En), Kiefer Ravena (Shiga), Juan Gomez de Liaño (Tokyo Z), Javi Gomez de Liaño (Ibakari), Kenmark Cariño (Aomori), Bobby Ray Parks (Nagoya), and most recently, Kobe Paras.
Ramos, who committed to join the Ateneo Blue Eagles in 2019, will end up not playing a single minute in the UAAP, but nevertheless had memorable moments as a key cog of the Philippine national team, Gilas Pilipinas, in their 2021 campaign, most notably in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers against rival South Korea.
A California kid who grew up idolizing Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, Ramos now joins a Toyama side that finished with the fourth-best record (39-21) in the East district last season. The Grouses’ playoff run ended in a tightly contested three-game quarterfinals against the Ryukyu Golden Kings.
With Toyama now in the West district, Ramos will play in the same conference as the Ravenas (San-En and Shiga) and Parks (Nagoya).