It was early July and, for once, Akira Jacobs did not mind sitting on the bench.

Jacobs had been competing in basketball’s version of “Survivor” as he advanced through Japan’s screening process.

First, it was making the final four of the 25-player development camp. Then it was making it out of the senior camp of 30 players.

“Then every two weeks, they’d make cuts randomly,” Jacobs said of Japan’s training camp for the 2024 Paris Olympics. “You just have to play basketball and hope you survive.”

On cut-down days, the players would gather in a gym, hoping to remain glued to the benches.

“If they call you to the door, ‘come talk to us,’ it basically meant you’re getting cut,” Jacobs said. “I’d sit there and hope my name didn’t get called.”

It never did. Jacobs, who was born in Yokohama to a Japanese mother and American father, made Japan’s 12-member Olympic men’s basketball team.

“It was a surreal moment,” Jacobs said of the announcement of the final roster. “Obviously, I was working toward that. I always believed I could do it. But the fact it actually happened was so crazy. It still feels like a dream.”

Jacobs recalled how his dual citizenship led to his singular goal. He was born in Japan, then moved to California when he was 5 years old. Over the summers, his family visited Japan. “I’ve only been living there a limited amount of time, but I’ve always been around Japan a lot,” Jacobs said.

He also was immersed in basketball. “I know I started playing it at 4,” Jacobs said. It began with mini hoops in the back yard of the family’s California home, to pickup games at the YMCA and then Perry Park in Redondo Beach, to starring for Redondo Union High and Dymally High.

In 2020, before the lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacobs and his family were on a week’s vacation in Japan. While there, he learned that social distancing was being imposed in the United States, including removing the basketball rims from the parks.

“Once we got there, it was like, I didn’t have anything going on in America,” he recalled. “Why not try just to see how far I can in Japan?”

He joined Yokohama’s under-18 team, then was promoted to a higher-tier competition. In 2022, he participated in the NBA Global Academy’s training program in Australia. A month ahead of UH’s 2023 fall semester, Jacobs signed a scholarship agreement with the Rainbow Warriors.

At the conclusion of his freshman season, he was invited to try out for Japan’s national team.

“When I moved back to Japan (in 2016), that’s what got me to all the places I’ve been to,” he said. “To be able to represent that basketball — obviously, it’s my culture and who I am — it was an honor. It’s always been a goal and a dream of mine to represent Japan. That’s why I did U18 and U19 stuff. To all of a sudden get to the Olympics, that’s the peak of the national team’s stuff. It was truly unbelievable.”

Jacobs remembered the chicken-skin moment of meeting his new teammate, Rui Hachimura of the Los Angeles Lakers. “That’s someone I looked up to for a long, long time,” Jacobs said. “I heard about him when he was in high school in Japan. Then when he went to Gonzaga, I watched him play a lot. One of the biggest memories in my head was the Maui Invitational with Duke vs. Gonzaga. I was watching that on TV, and seeing someone like me, a mixed-race Japanese person out there beating Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, super team Duke. That was something that inspired me a lot.”

While it was mesmerizing initially to see NBA stars during the lead-up to the Games, it was a relaxed feeling to interact with them in the Olympic Village.

“It’s like they’re all just people,” he said. “I knew that. But it makes it more connected. They’re just guys who are good at basketball who have their own hobbies. I thought that was really cool. It humanizes people. When they’re on TV, it’s almost like they’re just actors. But, wow, these are just normal guys.”

Jacobs has taken his development with the ’Bows last season and his international experience into this fall’s UH training camp. After helping in the post last season, he is back at his natural position on the wing, where he is a difficult cover because of his deep-shooting accuracy and drives. He also has eased into his routine of classes, studying, practices and hanging out with teammates.

“I don’t like to complicate my life too much,” he said.

Scouting report — Wings

Three seasons ago, the ’Bows realized four could not be divided equally. Instead of rotating Jerome Desrosiers and Kamaka Hepa at the four, head coach Eran Ganot played 6-10 Hepa at the wing. The intent was Hepa would provide another board crasher who could shoot over shorter defenders. With Gytis Nameiksa, a 6-8 transfer from Xavier, playing well at the four, 6-10 Akira Jacobs moved to the three. Similar to Hepa, Jacobs is a tough cover on post-up moves, step-back jumpers and 3s. Ryan Rapp, who is recovering from a hand injury, offers a different look from the wing than Jacobs.