Kaede Rukawa
Height: 187cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight: 75kg (165lb)
Hobbies: Sleeping
Shoe Brand: Nike - Air Jordan
Jersey No: 11
Position: Small Forward, SFHigh School: Shohoku High School (Freshman)
Grade: 10
Class: 1
Junior High School: Tomigaoka Junior HighKaede Rukawa is Sakuragi's rival as well as almost his opposite; he is attractive to girls, skilled at basketball, and very cold and unfeeling. The only traits they share are that they are not academically inclined and good fighters. He regards Sakuragi as an idiot and both normally fight. Actually, he knows Sakuragi can put his talents to a better use, but is ashamed to see the immaturity with which he deals with things. His hobby is sleeping, and is usually seen asleep whenever he's not on the court; he can even ride his bike while asleep often crashing with objects when doing so. Waking Rukawa from a nap is considered unforgivable, since he will almost automatically beat up the culprit. Unsurprisingly, he has also been in his fair share of off-court fights, but can hold his own. Rukawa's goal is to be the best high school player in Japan, and he considers Sendoh of Ryonan to be his greatest rival. A fact being that he is often nicknamed the "super-rookie", the "ace of Shohoku", even.