Kōsuke Wakamatsu (若松 孝輔 Wakamatsu Kōsuke) is a second year center at Tōō Academy. After Imayoshi's retirement, he became the captain of the team.
Appearance
Wakamatsu has light blond, spiky hair that is short in the front, but longer in the back. He is tall and muscular and wears the jersey with number 6.
Personality
Wakamatsu has a strong personality and is usually over enthusiastic. With his teammates and opponents, he is known as overly loud, noisy and extremely annoying. He also has a short temper, usually triggered by Aomine. He is irritated by others who won't practice. However, Wakamatsu was surprised to see Kagami had become much more calm and composed than he used to be and even successfully analyzed Kiyoshi's ability, showing some out-of-character sharpness.[1][2]
Story
Interhigh preliminaries
Final league
Aomine clashes with Wakamatsu
Wakamatsu is seen for the first time before the final league of the Interhigh preliminaries. He and the Tōō team are practicing in the gym. When they take a break to eat their lunch, Aomine shows up. After Aomine says that he won't practice and further eats Sakurai's lunch, Wakamatsu is irritated and attacks Aomine, grabbing him by his collar and yelling that he should be more responsible and should practice, like the rest of them. Aomine refuses. Wakamatsu doesn't let go and Aomine kicks him in the stomach. He takes a ball, dunks and breaks the rim. He throws the broken rim at Wakamatsu and says that he should bug him about practice when he's better than him. Wakamatsu is shocked and lets him leave.[3]
When Aomine is gone, Imayoshi apologizes for Aomine. He explains that in Tōō, Aomine is permitted a lot more than the other players, just because he is much stronger.
Winter Cup
Round 1
.png){kind=link}
Wakamatsu tries to block Kiyoshi
He first appears at the Winter Cup when Tōō's match against Seirin is about to begin. He enters the court along with the rest of the team and some boys in the audience talk about how he's the fastest center they have ever seen.[4]
The match commences and Wakamatsu jumps against Kiyoshi for the tip off. Seirin gets the ball, tries to score right off the bat, but Tōō's defense manages to steal the ball. Aomine scores and Kuroko gets ready for his Ignite Pass Kai. Wakamatsu thinks by himself that Kuroko's pass doesn't work against Aomine and is surprised why he does that. Kuroko fires his pass and it reaches Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi jumps for the dunk, but suddenly Wakamatsu appears before him.[5] Wakamatsu kept up with him and holds his hand between the ball and the rim, preparing to block the dunk. But Kiyoshi changes his movements and passes behind him for Kagami to finish the dunk. Wakamatsu is amazed by Kiyoshi's right of postponement.
Later, in Seirin's attack, he battles with Kiyoshi again for the rebound. Kiyoshi is overpowered and is intrigued by Wakamatsu's stength and speed, comparing his physical capabilities to Kagami.[6] He is later seen flustered by the Kagami-Aomine matchup. During the entire match, he continues to battle Kiyoshi under the basket, but could not totally outplay him simply because it's an Uncrowned King he's up against. He even committed a foul which sent Kiyoshi to the free throw line which made the turnaround for Seirin. With their loss, Wakamatsu was made captain by Imayoshi who retired along with Susa and other 3rd years. Reluctant at first, he could not say anything after Imayoshi said that he will be fine as long as he knows that Aomine is the main force for Tōō and that's all that matters.
Skill
| Physical Ability | 10/10 | 
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technique | 6/10 | ||
| Stamina | 10/10 | ||
| Mental Strength | 8/10 | ||
| Special Ability | 5/10 | ||
Wakamatsu gets the rebound
Wakamatsu is a very strong and fast center. His speciality is rebounding, even winning against Kiyoshi on occasions. Apparently, Wakamatsu is known for being a very fast center, as the audience admired him for that. He was able to cover Kiyoshi in a fast-break when Kiyoshi was about to dunk. Kiyoshi has also compared him to Kagami, in terms of physical abilities.[6] He is proficient in post moves at the offense, and is also able to dunk. On defense, he is capable of blocking shots.
Trivia
- On the first character poll, Wakamatsu ranked 18th, with 158 votes. He went down to 23rd place, with 122 votes.
- He is on bad terms with Aomine simply because he doesn't practice and he can't accept that and he hates his arrogance.
- His personality is similar to Mitsuhiro Hayakawa of Kaijō, both being loud-mouthed, hot-tempered and extrovert. They are also both strong players who specialize in rebounds but it is clear that Hayakawa is the better rebounder.
- According to the CHARACTERS BIBLE:
- His motto is "Where there is a will, there is a way".
- His favorite food is yakisoba (Japanese-styled fried noodles)
- His hobby is cycling.
- According to the KUROFES:
- His speciality is chugging milk.
- His best subject is Geography.
- He's in the School Disciplinary committee.
- He has a father, mother and a younger brother.
- He dislikes Aomine.
- His Basketball moves is High post -> Spin move.
- His type of girl is slightly ditz.
- The reason he plays basketball is because he's got the guts.
- The player he has eyes on is Kiyoshi.
References
| v - e - t | Tōō Academy |
|---|---|
| Players | Daiki Aomine • Ryō Sakurai • Kōsuke Wakamatsu |
| Former players | Shoichi Imayoshi • Yoshinori Susa |
| Staff | Katsunori Harasawa (head coach) • Satsuki Momoi (manager) |
| v - e | Team Vorpal Swords |
|---|---|
| Players | Seijūrō Akashi • Daiki Aomine • Shintarō Midorima • Ryōta Kise • Atsushi Murasakibara • Taiga Kagami • Tetsuya Kuroko • Junpei Hyūga • Kazunari Takao • Kōsuke Wakamatsu |
| Staff | Kagetora Aida (coach) • Riko Aida (assistant coach) • Satsuki Momoi (manager) |