| Introduction |
| “ | Natsume-kun was it? I’ll remember that name. We consider ourselves lucky that someone knocked Fuwa down a peg. Because now he can take the next step. You provoked him into awakening it. His true potential | ” |
—Yokoyama Atsushi, to Kenji Natsume | ||
Yokoyama Atsushi (横山 篤士, Atsushi Yokoyama) is a second year shooting guard who plays for Yokohama Taiei High. All the freshman on the team calls him Yokoyama-sempai or Atsushi by Yaku and Shiraishi.
Appearance[]
Yokoyama is about 174 cm tall. He has medium length light brown hair and with eyes of the same corresponding color. His jersey number is 20, and wears 'Air Zoom Brave 1.5' sneakers.
Personality[]
Yokoyama is an affable individual, always seen giving compliments to his teammates. Due to his friendly nature, Atsushi is well respected amongst his peers and the coaching staff at Yokohama Taiei High. Sakamaki has a great deal of trust in him as a player who can change the flow of a particular game.
Inter-High Tournament[]
Atsushi’s team participates in the Inter-High tournament; his club qualifies directly to the prefectural semifinals due to being seeded. In the Kanagawa, representative semifinals face Kitasumi High, with an assist from Shiraishi, and Fuwa, his team wins the match with ease. In the finals, his club faces Shinmaruko High, which is led by Shinichi Chiba and Tokitaka Tokiwa. Yokoyama doesn’t participate in either of these games, and his team alongside Showa Academy are the two clubs who qualify from Kanagawa prefecture for the Inter-High Tournament.
Yokohama Taiei High vs. Kuzuryu High (practice match)[]
Yokoyama makes his official appearance in the series during the practice match with Kuzuryū High. In this game, he is a substitute shooting guard. When Fuwa starts showing signs of tediousness and lethargy, Sakamaki replaces him with Yokoyama. Upon entering the game, Sakamaki tells Atsushi to show Fuwa how a real shooting guard plays. As Fuwa is heading toward his teams’ bench, Yokoyama tells Hyou that even you can have off days like the rest of us. Fuwa smiles at him as he exits the court.
Yokoyama enters the game in the final 5 minutes of the first quarter. Kuzuryū High is leading the match by one point. Usami, his teammate, has the ball while dribbling, signals Atsushi to create a screen. As Sora tries to stop Usami, Yokoyama successfully boxes him out. Kurumatani tells Chucky to stop him. Usami passes the ball to Atsushi as he shoots it way beyond the three point line. Sora is amazed by his shooting form and range. Atsushi sees Kurumatani’s astonished expression as he pats on his shoulder and smiles at him. Shiraishi tells Yokoyama it’s good that the ball went in. Atsushi informs Sei that it is his way of saying hello to the Kuzu-High squad. Sora and his teammates get in panic mode as Chiaki and Masahiro tries to double team him. Atsushi doesn’t get flustered by them and passes the ball to Shiraishi, who then scores a layup. Kuzuryu High tries to regroup themselves, as Sora passes the ball to Chiaki, Yokoyama steals it, Usami picks up the free ball and tries to score who is stopped by Momoharu. Yaku gets the rebound and passes to Shiraishi. During that time, Yokoyama places himself perfectly on the right side of the three point line. Sie sees him and passes the ball; Atsushi then scores the three pointer. All of a sudden, the flow of the game changes to Yokohama Taiei High’s favor. Kuzu-High calls for a timeout. In the final minutes of the first quarter, Yokoyama guards Kenji. Atsushi is amazed by the freshman’s skills and faces some issues in keeping up with him. At the end of the first quarter, Sakamaki replaces Yokoyama with Fuwa. Atsushi then sits out for the rest of the game until the fourth quarter's final 1 minute. Fuwa gets himself into some foul trouble and, while guarding Kenji, receives a crossover dribble (ankle breaker) from Tobi. Atsushi makes his way to the court and tells Hyou to sub himself out. Yokoyama thanks Tobi for teaching Fuwa a lesson and tells Natsume the crossover move he did on Hyou would make him a better player. Till the end of the practice match, Yokoyama guards Kenji carefully as his team wins the game against Kuzuryū High by 45 points.
Skills[]
Yokoyama is an excellent shooting guard. He is a genuine shooter who can make long range shots way beyond the three point line. Defensively, Atsushi is a pretty good player; he helped his teammates in creating effective screens. However, Yokoyama still needs to work on his speed and agility as he faced some problems while guarding Kenji.
| Physical Ability | 7/10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Technique | 9/10 | |
| Stamina | 9/10 | |
| Mental Strength | 8/10 | |
| Special Ability | 8/10 | |
Quotes[]
- “So, you can have days like the rest of us. That’s good to know.” – to Hyou Fuwa (Chapter 120)
- “Ah excuse me. That was just a hello.” – to Sei Shiraishi (Chapter 120)
- “You’re out Fuwa. You can no longer handle that number 11 (Kenji).” – to Hyou Fuwa (Chapter 137)