LIHUE — Gavin Toyofuku will be on the hardwoods when the 11th annual Kauai Hoops Classic tips off Thursday.
This will probably be the last time the Kauai High School graduate will see competitive hoops action before leaving for college.
A member of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation boys basketball championship team Kauai High School, Toyofuku signed his letter of intent to play basketball for the Pacific University in Oregon, where he is looking for a degree in biology.
“I’ll just keep going,” Gavin said. “Eventually, I want to become a physical therapist.”
Gavin got his start in basketball when he was 11 years old, taking the court under Coach Steven Pascua as part of Team Central in the community basketball league.
He played with the Kauai High School basketball program under Clydge Vito and Ipo Yoshioka.
Dean Toyofuku, Gavin’s father, said Gavin as come full circle.
“The coaches invited him to play with Shaka Hoops and Coach Ipo in the 12th Grade Boys division,” Dean said. “But Gavin said he started with Coach Steven, and will play one more time with Coach Steven before he goes to college.”
Dean said the hardest part of getting the Pacific University invitation to play basketball was getting admitted to the school.
“We went up there in August for a one-day prospect camp,” Dean said. “This was just to try and get a feel and check out the campus. But the amazing thing about that camp was the coach offering a position to Gavin right there. Now, he had to become admitted to the school and stay healthy.”
Dean said he’s happy that Gavin is playing at Pacific University.
“Pacific is close to Linfield College where Gavin’s brother Tyler is playing baseball in his final year,” Dean said.
In the meantime, Gavin will be part of Na Koa Basketball that takes the floor Thursday against Hawaii Supreme Basketball at Bernice Hundley Gym at Kapaa High School. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m.
