TOKYO – Penn State men's basketball alumnus and Japan Olympic women's basketball head coach Tom Hovasse '89 led Japan to its first-ever Olympic medal in the sport of women's basketball Saturday night. Japan fell 90-75 to seven-time defending Olympic champion Team USA in the gold medal game, but the host team walked away with the silver medal to earn its highest-ever finish in Olympic history.
Hovasse guided Japan to a storybook Olympic games as the Japanese entered the Tokyo games ranked 10th in the world before advancing to the gold medal game. Japan defeated France and Belgium in the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively, and France and Nigeria in group play.
Hovasse served as the head coach for the 2020 Tokyo games after serving as an assistant coach during the 2016 Rio games. He was named the first foreign-born head coach of the Japanese National Team in 2017.
Hovasse was a first team all-conference performer at Penn State who ranks No. 12 on Penn State's all-time scoring leaders list with 1,459 career points. He played for the Nittany Lions from 1985-1989, earning first team All-Atlantic 10 honors as a senior in 1989.
Hovasse went on to play professionally for a number of years, making several stops overseas and seeing time with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks during the 1994-95 season. He has spent the last 10-plus years coaching, with a majority of his coaching career coming in Japan and a brief stint as an assistant coach with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
"It's remarkable what he did with that program."@MitchGerber caught up with former head coach Bruce Parkhill, who coached @TomHovasse at Penn State, to talk about Hovasse & Japan's remarkable run to an Olympic medal⤵️ #WeAre#OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/DWi9F2hM1m
— Penn State Men's Basketball (@PennStateMBB) August 11, 2021