Mitsui, Hisashi

三井寿

Prior to enrolling at Shohoku, Mitsui Hisashi served as the MVP for Takeishi Junior High. Although he had the chance to attend more prestigious high schools such as Ryonan, he chose Shohoku because of Coach Anzai; Anzai had given him the courage to win the Junior High tournament by encouraging him during the final seconds of the match. However, an injury to his left knee sustained during a training session interrupted his basketball career. An imprudent early return to the court reinjured the knee more severely, resulting in a basketball hiatus of over a year.
Although he eventually healed, he became embittered by his exclusion from the court, and Mitsui quit basketball to become the leader of a gang. His gang got into a fight with Miyagi, and during the altercation, Miyagi beat Mitsui senseless before taking a beating himself.
Afterwards, Mitsui attempted to ruin the basketball team by instigating them into fighting with his gang, as the team would have been banned from competition for fighting. In the end, Sakuragi's own gang—Yohei, Takamiya, Ookusu, and Noma—voluntarily took the blame for the fight, and Mitsui was filled with remorse when he saw Anzai again. He rejoined the team and vowed never to fight again.
Mitsui is best known on the team as a three-point specialist, though his skills extend to other areas; during a practice match, he once managed to shut down Sakuragi, who was playing center. His defensive ability completely shut down Fukuda's scoring abilities. His three-pointers helped Shohoku catch up when they were 12 points down against Shoyo, and again when the team was 20 points down against Sannoh in the National Championships. His greatest weakness, though, is his lack of stamina due to his long break from playing basketball. Thus, in the latter halves of games, he has not always been as reliable—he missed a potential game-winning shot against Kainan and collapsed on-court during the game against Ryonan.