What's even more incredible is that Goro Domoto, the head coach of Sannoh Industrial High School at the Tokito, actually set his sights on Sota Miyagi that very summer—two years in advance.
Domoto was very generous at the time and readily agreed.
"I've got my eye on Sota Miyagi, he's a true genius! Don't even mention two years in advance, if I were the university coach, I'd poach him five years in advance without hesitation! That's how capricious I am!"
To everyone's surprise, Sota Miyagi rejected Domoto outright, declaring that he would never consider joining Sannoh in his lifetime.
At the end of the interview, Domoto only said one sentence.
"That kid said his goal is to beat Sannoh all by himself."
He finished speaking and smiled, his eyes full of anticipation for the future.
Back then, most of the players' slogans were to defeat Sannoh, Takenori Akagi's slogan was to dominate the nation, which, to put it bluntly, also meant to beat Sannoh. After all, Sannoh was the undisputed champion of the nation.
Unlike others, Sota Miyagi added a prefix to this slogan—"by his own strength."
Back then, everyone thought the newcomers were arrogant and had strong personalities, but compared to Sota Miyagi, they were nothing.
These words were rebellious and arrogant enough that many people felt he had become arrogant.
But Domoto's reaction was completely different; he was full of anticipation for Sota Miyagi's arrogance.
After all, in the coaching profession, no one can stay with one team until retirement.
Take Mitsuyoshi Anzai for example; for whatever reason, he played for several teams and in several leagues.
Therefore, loyalty is not a valid concept in the coaching profession.
Domoto had been leading the Sannoh for nine years at that time, which was a long time.
Because the coaching profession is unstable, he didn't intend to completely crush Sota Miyagi at that time. Instead, he hoped to face him in the future and have Sota Miyagi cause him some trouble so that he could enjoy the thrill of strategizing on the court.
However, Domoto did eventually get what he wanted, but not because of Sota Miyagi, but because of Shirasawa's Shohoku.
Shohoku taught him the taste of defeat and the feeling of powerlessness, and also made him learn from Coach Anzai, almost like a disciple.
Geniuses are always expected to achieve great things.
Some people become famous smoothly, while others are gradually forgotten for various reasons. Hisashi Mitsui is an example of the latter.
His current grades aren't bad, but they're far from what people expected of him.
There is another type of genius whose ending is particularly outrageous; there is only one such genius so far: Sota Miyagi.
Seven years ago, in the summer, Sota Miyagi was at the height of his fame, but before that summer was even over, he completely disappeared from the basketball world. No one knew where he went, not even his younger brother, Ryota Miyagi.
Two months later, elementary school student Ryota Miyagi was sobbing in his older brother's room.
Sota Miyagi was shipwrecked while on a sea excursion. All the people on board disappeared without a trace, and the police eventually determined that everyone on board perished, with no survivors.
Sota Miyagi's legend came to an abrupt end that day, like a fleeting ephemera, brilliantly shining for an entire summer.
Players are like that; they can rise to fame quickly, and they can be forgotten just as quickly.
Later, Shinichi Maki and his teammates became incredibly strong in the new season, and Sota Miyagi's name was mentioned less and less. Two years later, everyone even completely forgot about that ruthless guy who was in the same class as Shinichi Maki and Masashi Kawata.
Perhaps Domoto has forgotten the boy he looked forward to back then; the only one who remembers Sota Miyagi is his younger brother, Ryota Miyagi.
Even now, Ryota Miyagi still believes his brother is alive, but reality forces him to accept it.
Number 7 is his only connection with his brother and his only source of emotional support over the years.
When Sota Miyagi height of his fame, very few people knew that he had a younger brother.
This is related to Ryota Miyagi's personality. Ryota has been competitive since he was a child. His older brother was his mentor in basketball, but he didn't want to acknowledge that identity.
He wants to stand on the same level as his brother based on his own abilities, instead of relying on the title of Sota Miyagi brother.
Ever since Sota Miyagi first showed his talent on the basketball court, Ryota Miyagi has always wanted to distance himself from his older brother.
He would always glare at people and argue, "We're really not related, it's just a coincidence that we both have the surname Miyagi!"
You know what, genes are really amazing.
Ryota Miyagi never really grew taller; he only reached 168 cm by the time he graduated from high school. Whether he can grow taller in the future depends on fate.
But Sota Miyagi was different. From a young age, he was a "giant" among his peers, with height, strength, and speed all at their peak. In his first year of junior high, he completely dominated the junior high basketball court. By the time he went missing, he had grown to 170 cm—wow, that first-year junior high kid was half a head taller than Ryota is now. Anyone who saw this genetic difference would sigh, "It's unfair."
Ryota scratched his head every time he thought about it, muttering to himself, "Couldn't the two brothers' genes be evenly distributed? Why did all the good ones go to Sota!"
Given their height difference, if someone said they weren't brothers, nine out of ten people would probably agree.
However, Sota doted on his younger brother so much that if Ryota said no, then no; he understood Ryota's thoughts.
Anyone playing basketball with the title of "genius younger brother" would be determined to make a name for themselves, and Ryota knew exactly what Sota was thinking.
The two brothers were very close in private. Sota was Ryota's personal basketball coach, teaching him until the day he disappeared.
After Sota left, Ryota devoted all his time to the basketball court, both to vent his frustrations and to remember his brother.
From that day on, Okinawa's basketball courts lost a dazzling number 7 and gained a less noticeable one.
Even if Ryota gave it his all, the gap between him and Sota was still enormous. Some people even egged him on to give up number 7 as a sign of respect for his senior.
This was also the direct reason why Ryota left Okinawa and went to Kanagawa to join Shohoku.
The Miyagi family's No. 7 building has been lit up again, but it's no longer the same as it used to be.
Ryota Miyagi slowly closed the locker, making up his mind: let's give up number 7. The legend of Sota Miyagi should finally come to an end.
Outside the Nagawa Prefectural Gymnasium, the area was already packed with people three or four deep before dawn, all there to watch the game.
Today's game was a nail-biter for both fans and the domestic basketball community— Shohoku was about to face the formidable international team, the Chariot Country, who had traveled from afar.
To be honest, before the game, no one thought Shohoku could win easily. Let alone 100%, no one dared to bet on odds over 50%.
Shohoku is strong, ridiculously strong, but who is their opponent? The Chariot Country! Although they lost to the Lighthouse Country's team, that was a completely different level of competition, incomparable. The Chariot Country is truly the top-level basketball nation.
For Shohoku, this game was a test of their ability to make a qualitative leap.
Looking at the history of high school basketball leagues, only Sannoh Industrial High School has ever played against foreign teams. Coincidentally, that team was just defeated by Shohoku, and they even went to the Lighthouse Country to play practice games against their high school team.
An insider revealed that the team from the Lighthouse Country was not the champion; their performance was only average, and they didn't field their full starting lineup—at most, they were a 1.5 team.
But the team Shohoku is facing today is the undisputed league champion. Not only are they fielding their full starting lineup, but they've also just been thrashed by the Cheetah Team and are seething with anger.
Therefore, the fans didn't put much pressure on Shohoku before the game. Even if they lost, as long as it wasn't a disastrous defeat, they could accept it. Of course, winning would be the best outcome, which was the consensus among everyone.
Nobody wants Shohoku to bear the burden of national responsibility; after all, it's just a high school league game, there's no need to go that far.
In the locker room of Shohoku, Captain Ryota Miyagi was seriously outlining tactics.
This was his second match as captain, or strictly speaking, his first. The previous match against Changwon was won by everyone chatting and laughing, like strolling in a park. It was even easier than the county selection competition. As captain, he was useless except for calling for the team to assemble.
But today is different. A tough nut to crack is right in front of him. For the first time, Ryota felt the pressure of being the captain, just like when Takenori Akagi faced Shoyo and Kainan, it was so overwhelming that he couldn't breathe.
Takenori Akagi, unusually relaxed, patted Hanamichi Sakuragi on the shoulder. " Sakuragi, let me see if you've regressed."
He's still a member of Shohoku, and Shohoku will always be in his heart. But he's no longer the captain, and that feeling is just too good. He even wants to shout, "Brothers, enjoy the game!"
No matter what, he had only one thought in his mind: Shohoku must win.
" Gorilla, you still don't understand this genius!" Sakuragi clenched his fist, brimming with confidence. "In this genius's life, the word 'retreat' has never existed! And you, don't you dare drag this genius down!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Akagi's eyes flashed with anger, and he pulled Sakuragi into his arms.
Sakuragi, who was being squeezed until he could barely breathe, suddenly stopped struggling and bared his teeth, shouting, "You shameless bastard! You've only just made it into the top ten nationwide and you're already getting cocky?"
Hanamichi Sakuragi, clutching the hem of his sweatpants, glanced sideways at Takenori Akagi, smug as a monkey who had just stolen a peach. Even though he was only ranked tenth nationally, this guy's boasting was louder than a basketball hoop. "Hehehe, Gorilla, let me tell you, this genius is only currently ranked tenth."
"Once the Winter Selection Tournament is over, those two bastards, Shinichi Maki and Soichiro Jin, will be eliminated. Then my ranking will skyrocket. Maybe fifth? No, no, first place isn't out of the question!" He laughed so hard he almost choked, spittle flying onto Akagi's chest.
Although this is an exaggerated claim, it's true. The magazine " Slam Dunk " had mentioned it before: after the Winter Selection Tournament, graduating high school seniors would be removed from the national rankings, and a new roster would be set for the players in the new season.
Currently, the top four in the nation are Dai Moroboshi, Shinichi Maki, Masashi Kawata, and Kazunari Fukatsu. However, if Sakuragi hadn't faltered in the winter selection, he could have jumped directly to sixth place, with Rukawa, Sendoh, Hiroshi Morishige, Sawakita, and Shirasawa ahead of him.
But these rankings are something you have to be able to hold onto, because the rankings have to be reshuffled after the prefectural tournament. People like Nobunaga Kiyota, Soichiro Jin, and Ryota Miyagi are all eyeing the top spot. Even first-year students like Sawakita and Hizawa were able to climb to the top as rookies. Sakuragi's consistency in the game is a million times harder to maintain than to conquer the top.
But this genius didn't care about the future; he just wanted to have fun first.
Yasuharu Yasuda clapped his hands to bring everyone's attention back, and shouted with a smile, "Stop wandering around, save your energy, we'll go in after five minutes!"
Although he was trying to adapt to the role of vice-captain, Kiminobu Kogure was his role model. He had been living and eating with Kogure for a while now and was learning very well, knowing exactly when to say what.
In contrast, Captain Ryota Miyagi seemed particularly off today, with a strange sense of unease creeping into his mind.