Tominaga family gets celebrity treatment in ‘special’ day at PBA

Midway through the second half, Pinnacle Bank Arena erupted in applause.

Sam Hoiberg had connected on an and-one to give Nebraska its biggest lead of the game over Minnesota.

But Hitomi Tominaga’s attention pivoted elsewhere.

Her son, Nebraska’s beloved guard Keisei Tominaga, had checked out of the game a few minutes prior to attend to an apparent cramping issue. She watched as he stretched out on the railing near the family section — a few feet away from where she was seated.

For the Tominagas, meaningful doesn’t even begin to surmise what Saturday meant.

Hitomi and Hiroyuki hadn’t watched their son play a basketball game in five years, when Keisei played for Sakuragaoka Gakuen High School in Nagoya. And it was the first time they’d seen their son since last summer, when Keisei returned home to Japan for summer break.

“It means a lot for me,” Keisei told the Journal Star. “They came all the way from Japan to just come watch a game. I’m so happy.”

It wasn’t an easy trip, either.

It’s 20 hours of travel time. More than 6,000 miles from Nagoya to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Chicago, then Chicago to Nebraska.

Speaking to the Journal Star through a translator, family friend Nugget Kondo, Hiroyuki said his excitement level was at “200%” to finally see Keisei play in-person.

“It’s been a long time,” Hiroyuki said via Kondo. “So today, very excited.”

Even though Keisei’s parents had never been to America before this trip, Pinnacle Bank Arena welcomed them with open arms.

The Tominagas were featured on the video board four times during Nebraska’s win over Minnesota. The last time, they bowed in appreciation for the love NU had given them, and their son, all game long.

Fans took pictures with them, waved at them, shook their hands — as if they were celebrities.

It wasn’t just Keisei’s parents making the trip. His high school coach, Satoru Ezaki, made the lengthy journey, too. He was a relatively last-minute addition to the Tominagas’ journey, Ezaki said through Kondo. Keisei’s parents began planning in October, while he decided to join them in January.

“It was really fun,” Ezaki said after the game via Kondo. “I was looking forward to this for a long time — dreaming.

“But, as his former head coach …,” Ezaki trailed off, while shaking his head.

Keisei scored 11 points Saturday, ending his five-game streak of scoring 20 or more points. But he has scored in double figures in eight straight games, and in 11 of the last 12 contests.

Though Saturday wasn’t just about basketball.

For the Tominagas — and for Oleg Kojenets’ family, who traveled in from Lithuania this week, too — this was about reuniting their family after a long time apart.

That’s something that was apparently not just for the two families getting some much-needed quality time, but for everyone on the team, too.

“For me, it’s a little bit different, obviously, because I get to see my parents every single day if I wanted to,” Lincoln native Sam Griesel said. “… For them to be here, it’s pretty special. I’m glad we got a win for them.”

Special. That’s the word coach Fred Hoiberg used, too. Twice, even.

It’s a word that can be overused these days, but it’s apt here.

The trip itself, unquestionably special.

But how the Tominagas were received by PBA?

Well, that’s just priceless.