Isaac Mana Mei Langi Finau Fotu (born 18 December 1993) is a New Zealand professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Utsunomiya Brex Utsunomiya Brex is a Japanese professional basketball team based in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. After winning the JBL 2 in 2008, the team played in the National Basketball League (Japan), National Basketball League. Previous team names include: T ...

of the Japanese

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

. He also represents the New Zealand national team in international competition.

Early life

Fotu was born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England, to a Tongan father and an English mother. He briefly lived in England alongside his two younger siblings, Ella and Dan, before the family moved to New Zealand when Fotu was seven. As a teenager, Fotu attended

Rangitoto College Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore City, North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and played club basketball for the North Harbour Basketball Association, leading the U19 boys squad to back-to-back national runner-up finishes. In 2011, he was named to the all-star five of the Nike All-Asia Camp in China, an invitation-only tournament for some of the best young high school players throughout Asia and Oceania. On 4 July 2011, Fotu signed with the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

as a non-contracted development player for the

2011–12 NBL season The 2011–12 NBL season was the 34th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of nine teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 7 October 2011 and 25 March 2012, followed by a post-season involving ...

. Being non-contracted still allowed him to pursue opportunities in the American college system without jeopardising his amateur status. On 11 November 2011, he played his first and only game for the Breakers, appearing the final 46 seconds of the team's 81–63 loss to the

Wollongong Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) are an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketbal ...

. On 22 November 2011, Fotu signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to play

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. After the University of Hawaii suggested that he might contravene NCAA rules if he played for a professional team, Fotu did not play again for the Breakers, nor did he play for the

Harbour Heat The Harbour Heat were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Heat competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at North Shore Events Centre. Team history The Harbour Heat, then known as North Shore, ...

during the

2012 New Zealand NBL season The 2012 NBL season was the 31st season of the National Basketball League. While the Harbour Heat returned for the 2012 season, the Waikato Pistons dropped out of the league. It marked the first time the league had no Waikato presence since 1 ...

despite signing with the club.

College career

As a freshman at

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in 2012–13, Fotu earned Big West co-Freshman of the Year honors and in doing so, became just the second UH player to earn league freshman of the year honors. He also earned Freshman All-American honors from ''CollegeInsider.com''. In 32 games (18 starts), he averaged 10.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 25.1 minutes per game. As a sophomore in 2013–14, Fotu earned first-team All-Big West and second-team NABC All-District 9 honors, becoming just the 11th UH player ever to be named all-district. He also earned Academic All-Big West honors. On 25 January 25, 2014, he scored a career-high 30 points on 13-of-16 shooting in an overtime win over UC Irvine. In 31 games (all starts), he averaged 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds in 30.8 minutes per game. On 29 October 2014, Fotu was ruled ineligible to play in 2014–15 after an NCAA investigation revealed he received improper benefits as a student-athlete. He was told he could continue practicing with the team but could not participate in games. He subsequently announced on 3 November that he was leaving the program to pursue a professional contract overseas.

College statistics

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Professional career

On 12 November 2014, Fotu signed a three-year deal with

CAI Zaragoza Basket Zaragoza 2002 S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Basket Zaragoza and as Casademont Zaragoza for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Zaragoza, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the FIBA Europe Cup. ...

of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. Two weeks later, he was loaned to La Bruixa d'Or Manresa for the rest of the season. He went on to make his debut for Manresa on 29 November, recording two points and two rebounds in a loss to

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two team ...

. The following game, on 7 December, he made his first start for Manresa, recording 16 points and 6 rebounds in a loss to

Iberostar Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., commonly known as CB Canarias and known as La Laguna Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top- ...

. In 26 games for Manresa in 2014–15, he averaged 10.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Fotu returned to Zaragoza for the 2015–16 season, making his debut for the club on 11 October 2015. On 3 April 2016, he had a 16-point game against

CB Estudiantes Club Baloncesto Estudiantes, S.A.D., (English: Club Basketball Students) known simply as Estu and as Movistar Estudiantes for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball team based in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is a member of the Liga ACB, Asociación ...

, and on 11 May, he had an 18-point game against

Valencia BC Valencia Basket Club S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket (), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup, and his women's team was created in 2014 and promoted to Liga Femenin ...

. On 22 July 2019, he has signed with Universo Treviso of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

. On 5 July 2020, he has signed with

Reyer Venezia S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball i ...

of the Italian

(LBA). Fotu parted ways with the team on 28 June 2021. On 20 July 2021, Fotu moves to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the

signing with

National team career

Fotu, at the age of just 17 years, became the youngest player to represent the

Tall Blacks The New Zealand men's national basketball team () represents New Zealand in international basketball competitions. The team is governed by Basketball New Zealand. The team's official nickname is the Tall Blacks (). Over their history, New Zeal ...

when he made his international debut in August 2011 at the

Stanković Cup Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Станковић, ) is a common surname derived from the South Slavic masculine given name Stanko. Stanković is the eighth most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 2,842 carriers (2011 census). ...

in Guangzhou, China where he helped them win the tournament. The following month, he helped New Zealand win the inaugural FIBA 3x3 World Youth Championship in Italy. Fotu competed for the Tall Blacks at the

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from 30 August to 14 September 2014. Hosted by Spain, it was the la ...

in Spain where he averaged 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in six games. After helping lead the Tall Blacks to the 2015 Stanković Cup title, Fotu played in the two-game

FIBA Oceania Championship FIBA Oceania Championship was the Oceania basketball championships that took place every two years between national teams of the continent. It was also the qualifying tournament for the Basketball World Cups and Olympic Games. The first editio ...

series against Australia in mid-August. New Zealand were defeated 2–0 as Fotu recorded a total of 18 points and 18 rebounds over the two games.

Personal life

Fotu is the son of Manu and Jenny Fotu, both of whom reside in Torbay, Auckland. His father played professional rugby in England. He also has two younger brothers and two younger sisters. His sister Ella and brother Dan have represented the Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks respectively. Fotu holds dual New Zealand-British nationality.

References

External links

Zaragoza player profile

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fotu, Isaac 1993 births Living people 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Basketball players from Auckland Basket Zaragoza players Bàsquet Manresa players College basketball controversies in the United States Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players New Zealand Breakers players New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Germany New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Italy New Zealand expatriate basketball people in Spain New Zealand expatriate basketball people in the United States New Zealand men's basketball players New Zealand people of English descent New Zealand sportspeople of Tongan descent Pallacanestro Treviso players People educated at Rangitoto College Power forwards Ratiopharm Ulm players Sportspeople from York Universo Treviso Basket players Utsunomiya Brex players 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen