HIGHLIGHTS
» 2024 Final ITA Rank: No. 32 Singles; No. 4 Singles West Region; No. 8 Doubles West Region
» 2023 Mountain West Conference Champion (Boise State)
» 2021 NJCAA National Champion (Tyler JC)
» 2021 NJCAA Flight Three Singles National Champion (Tyler JC)
» 2021 NJCAA Flight Two Doubles National Champion (Tyler JC)
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
» 2024 All-PacWest First Team Singles
» 2024 All-PacWest Second Team Doubles - Lamar Bartley
» 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team (Boise State)
» 2021 NJCAA All-America Singles First Team (Tyler JC)
» 2021 NJCAA All-America Doubles First Team (Tyler JC)
STUDENT IN STUDENT-ATHLETE
» 2024 (Spring) Bachelor's of Business Administration
» 2022 ITA All-Academic Team (Boise State)
» 2022 Spring Academic All-Mountain West Team (Boise State)
2024 (Fifth Year): Posted a 10-2 record in singles (Court 1) and 7-7 in doubles (Court 1). Went 3-0 with Coby Pearce ... Had singles wins over HPU (x2), No. 45 Metro State Denver (x2), Colorado Mesa (x2), CUI (No. 3 West Region Rank), Westmont and PLNU (No. 19 Rank) ... Selected to All-PacWest First Team Singles and All-PacWest Second Team Doubles with Lamar Bartley.
2022-2023 (Boise State): Posted a 30-24 record in singles and 20-22 in doubles through two seasons with the Broncos. Led BSU his junior season with a team-best 12-4 singles record. Helped the Broncos capture the 2023 Mountain West Conference Championship.
2020-2021* (Tyler JC): Captured three national titles in 2021 with the Apache, claiming individual wins in the NJCAA Flight Three Singles and NJCAA Flight Two Doubles.
*Student-athletes were not charged with use of a season of eligibility for the 2020-21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic
*Student-athletes were not charged with use of a season of eligibility for the 2019-20 spring sports season due to the COVID-19 pandemic
BEFORE HAWAI‘I HILO
» Spent two years at Boise State University (Idaho)
» Spent two years at Tyler Junior College (Texas) playing for coach Dash Connell
» 2019 graduate of Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy
» Played three seasons of varsity tennis for coach Brian Ji
» 2019 HHSAA Singles State Champion, Big Island Interscholastic Federation Singles Champion (x3), 2018 BIIF Champion
» Other Sports: Cross Country
PERSONAL
» Born July 2000 in Japan
» Parents: Hisako and Shinichi Minakata
» Has an older brother
» Career Aspirations: Professional Tennis Player
WHY HAWAI‘I HILO
» "Because of head coach Kallen Mizuguchi."
FAVORITES
» Hobbies: Sports, Driving, Sunset Watching
» Sports Moment: Winning the big moments.
» Athletes: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Stephen Curry
» Movies: The Blind Side
» Shows: Black Mirror
» Musicians: Josh Groban
