Ryuji Aoki

is a Japanese professional basketball player for Osaka Evessa of the B.League. He played college basketball for the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers.

Early life Aoki was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. When he was in second grade, his family moved from Tokyo to the United States because his father, Moto, started a job for a pharmaceutical company. At the time, he could not speak English other than ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘hello’ and ‘thank you.’ The first home of Aoki's family was in Buffalo Grove, Illinois and it had a basketball hoop in the driveway. Aoki shared that having kids over at his house every day to play basketball helped him in making friends and in improving his basketball and English-speaking skills.

College career Aoki attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and played for the Fightin' Engineers. He made his collegiate debut on November 19, 2016, posting eight points, one assist and one steal against the Birmingham-Southern College. On January 7, 2017, he scored a career-high 20 points in a loss to Manchester University. As a freshman, he averaged 7.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 15.8 minutes per game. As a sophomore, Aoki played in 27 games, including three starts, averaging 10.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 15.8 minutes per game. As a senior, he started in all 18 games that he appeared in, posting an average of 12.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 26.9 minutes per game. He made his professional debut on September 28, against the Koshigaya Alphas. In his rookie season, Aoki averaged 0.7 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 0.1 steals in 2.4 minutes over 18 games played.

Iwate Big Bulls (2020–2021) On June 17, 2020, Aoki signed with the Iwate Big Bulls. On March 21, 2021, he logged a career-high 46 points with zero turnovers on 14-of-20 shooting from the field and 12-of-18 from three, against the Veltex Shizuoka, setting a B.League record for the most points scored in a game by a player, previously held by Kosuke Kanamaru of Seahorses Mikawa with 45 points. Aoki appeared in 31 games, including 24 starts, averaging 12.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.5 steals in 21.1 minutes per game, while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from three.

Personal life Aoki was an academic all-conference selection at Stevenson High School, where he graduated with a 4.45 grade-point average (GPA) in 2016. He was also a part of the school's marching band.

Aoki cited high school teammate and NBA player Jalen Brunson as his role model and inspiration, who told him once that “magic is in the work.”