Wat Misaka, 1947
Armstrong’s of Ogden Basketball Team with Wat Misaka on far right
Wat on the Weber College Track team
Wat Misaka was born December 23, 1923, to Fusaichi and Tatsuyo Misaka. He was the oldest of four children, and his parents owned a barbershop on25th Street. Wat’s father died when Wat was only 15, and the family had to decide whether they would stay in Utah or return to Japan. Neighbors helped Tatsuyo get her barber’s license to keep the shop open and remain in Ogden.
Wat started playing baseball at Central Junior High and was the team captain. He began playing basketball with the help of George Shimizu who taught him how to play. The Central Junior High team became the Ogden City basketball champions, and Misaka got onto the Ogden High School team in 1939, one of only four freshmen to do so. By his sophomore year, he was one of the starting five and getting local media attention. Ogden High came in 7th at the state championships, but Misaka was praised. “[H]e was the fastest player in the tournament, and his footwork on the floor was incredible,” one reporter said.
Misaka went on to play for three years at Weber College before joining the team at the University of Utah in 1944. Later that year he was drafted and served in Japan deciphering intel for the foreign language service. He stayed in Japan until 1946 then returned home and went back to school at the University of Utah. Playing basketball again, he was a part of the team that won the NIT Tournament in 1947, the most prestigious post-season college tournament at the time.
He was then drafted into the Basketball Association of America for $4,000 a year. Misaka played for 13 days and three games for the New York Knickerbockers before being cut from the team. Despite being a great defensive player he was released because he was considered to be too short. Despite his short career, Wat Misaka was recognized in2009 as the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball.
Wat on the Weber College Basketball team