| Ryoji Ikegami | |
|---|---|
| |
| Name | |
| Characteristics | |
| Gender |  Male
|
| Height | 183 cm |
| Weight | 72 kg |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Professional Status | |
| Team | 
|
| Year | 3rd Year |
| Position | Forward |
| Jersey Number | #5 |
| Personal Status | |
| First Appearance | |
| Anime Debut | 013. "Shohoku vs Ryonan. Burning Captain!" |
| Voices | |
| Japanese Voice | Hikaru Midorikawa |
| English Voice | Victor Silayan (ABS-CBN Filipino Dub) |
| [v · t · e] | |
Ryoji Ikegami (池上 良治, Ikegami Ryōji) is the vice-captain of the Ryonan basketball team, and its best perimeter defender. Ikegami started for Ryonan during Kicchou Fukuda's suspension.
He retired along with Uozumi after Ryonan lost to Shohoku.
Personality[]
He is cool and collected normally, but he is shocked because of Sakuragi unnatural talents, whom he underestimated him as beginner as Sakuragi blocks and steals the ball from his jumpshots, even fakes.
Abilities[]
He is the best perimeter defender on the team. He managed to temporarily shut down Mitsui during their match against Shohoku High School. He is a better perimeter defender than a post defender, adept at steals and a blocking the shooters' sights. He is also an able jumpshooter, at least only Sakuragi stops him, even with fakes.
However, in the mobile game, he is a purely defensive player as his offensive moves are really weak. His defensive abilities are top notch in the game as it provides heavy interference to the rival's shot.
History[]
Ikegami joined the basketball team in the same year as Uozumi. When Ikegami tried to help Uozumi during running exercises, Coach Taoka commanded him to not assist Uozumi in any way.
Ikegami and Uozumi are the only remaining teammates from their class by the time they retire (like Kiminobu Kogure and Takenori Akagi of Shohoku).
Plot[]
Ikegami was in the starting lineup during Ryonan v. Shohoku practice match. He scores the first basket after an assist from Sendoh. When Ikegami marked Hanamichi Sakuragi while Akira Sendoh marked Kaede Rukawa toward the last few minutes, Sakuragi got angry at Sendoh for not marking him instead. When Ikegami mocked Sakuragi saying he's not worthy for being marked by Sendoh, Sakuragi karate-chopped him in the stomach. Unfortunately for Ikegami, the referee did not see the foul and Sakuragi escaped punishment. Ikegami played the entire match as Ryonan won 87-86.
Ikegami subbed in for Fukuda in the second half of Ryonan's match against Kainan at the Kanagawa Tournament after Kainan's 16-2 scoring run. He also made a critical steal--approaching from behind to knock the ball out of Shinichi Maki's hand--to regain the last possession for Sendoh. Sendoh then went on to equalize the match at 79-79 and force overtime. Ikegami played the rest of the match, eventually losing to Kainan 83-89 in overtime.
Ikegami subbed in for Koshino in the second half of Ryonan's match against Shohoku at the Kanagawa Tournament in order to defend Mitsui. He attempted multiple times to take advantage of Sakuragi being his marker, but Sakuragi successfully defended him in various ways including multiple blocks on Ikegami's shot attempts (albeit Sakuragi was aided by Akagi's presence in the paint). With one minute left, Ikegami initially made a great defensive play by stealing the ball from Rukawa per Coach Taoka's orders to double team; but his following fastbreak pass was intercepted by Sakuragi. This ultimately led to an unmarked Kogure's 3-pointer that almost guaranteed Shohoku's win.
After the Kanagawa Regional Tournament, Ikegami announced his retirement along with Uozumi. He stepped in to finish the retirement speech on behalf of Uozumi when the latter began to cry and could not continue speaking.
In the anime, Ikegami participated in Shohoku v. Shoyo/Ryonan scrimmage prior to Shohoku's participation at the National Inter High Tournament.