Nebraska's Keisei Tominaga. Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Curry Brand signs 'Japanese Steph Curry' to multi-year deal

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Jun 17, 2024 10:18 AM ET

Michael Jordan is credited for globalizing the sport of basketball, but these days Stephen Curry is one player most young players try to emulate.

Over the past three years, Keisei Tominaga, nicknamed the "Japanese Steph Curry," has been entertaining fans of the University of Nebraska with his deep-range shooting, making 178 threes while wearing Curry's No. 30 jersey. Tominaga became all the more popular for routinely nailing his best impression of the Warriors star, which includes replicating Curry's moves on and off the court.

For example, during April's Soft Touch College Men's 3-Point Championship, Tominaga went viral for doing his best rendition of Curry's signature no-look turnaround three-pointer.

He takes a few dribbles.
He waits for the buzzer.
He hits the Steph no-look turnaround.
He drains it.

Keisei Tominaga is the best of what college basketball has to offer.

The sport will miss him. pic.twitter.com/rKsSE7wY0x
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) April 5, 2024

Tominaga's growing popularity hasn't gone unnoticed.

According to sneaker expert Nick DePaula, Tominaga has inked a multi-year deal with Under Armor's Curry Brand.

OFFICIAL: Curry Brand has signed Japanese PG Keisei Tominaga to a multi-year shoe deal as the brand’s 1st international athlete. ✍️

“Steph has always been one of my basketball heroes,” says @KeiseiTominaga. “I have worked hard to emulate his game in my own basketball career,… pic.twitter.com/ZoNhtdKQFq
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) June 14, 2024

Tominaga first met his idol, Curry, in 2018 when the Warriors star was in Tokyo for a promotional event. Tominaga was in high school at the time.

The 23-year-old declared for the 2024 NBA Draft after wrapping up his three-year stint at Nebraska earlier this year. According to several reports, he had workouts with the Clippers and Kings in May ahead of his participation with the Japanese national team at the Paris Olympics. If he goes undrafted , Tominaga could potentially land with a team on a two-way contract.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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