Being the “new guy” at any school, whether a sedentary environment as in the States or transient ones such as DODEA, comes with a tinge of curiosity on the part of new classmates.

And expectations, especially if you’re a student-athlete who has transferred to a DODEA school from one in which teams play in a competitive environment.

That was Isaiah Kimbrough, a 6-foot-2 junior forward-center, who moved to Nile C. Kinnick in Japan after attending and playing for Moanalua High School in Honolulu’s Salt Lake district.

“It was a different group of people” at Kinnick, Kimbrough said. “I had to adjust to the fact that I was the ‘new guy,’ an outsider. But I adjusted quickly.”

Kinnick was already in the crosshairs, having won the Far East Division I Tournament title the year before on a last-second basket.

But not only did Kimbrough adjust, but he flourished with his new Red Devils basketball team: averaging 22.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

And not only did Kinnick overcome a slow start to the season, but the Red Devils closed with a flurry, repeating their D-I championship with a home-court victory in double-overtime against St. Mary’s.

Kimbrough scored 22 points in Kinnick’s 76-70 win over the Titans, earning the William C. Bechtel Memorial Awards as the D-I Tournament Most Valuable Player along the way.

For all that, Kimbrough has been named the Stars and Stripes’ Pacific high school boys basketball Athlete of the Year.

“Isaiah has been our leader all year,” Red Devils longtime coach Robert Stovall said following the title game.

Kinnick finished the season 21-7 but got off to a rough start during a season-opening weekend trip to Matthew C. Perry. Missing three starters with injuries, the Red Devils lost the opener 53-47 to E.J. King before righting the ship and taking the next three over the weekend.

“When we got that first win in the second game at Iwakuni, I felt we took that first loss as a team and it made us want to strive to win more,” Kimbrough said. “It brought us more together, cutting out the individual play.”

The previous year’s title might have fed some early-season overconfidence, Kimbrough said.

“At the beginning of the season, a lot of us had ego,” he said. “Losing that way wasn’t the way we wanted to go about our season.”

The mindset going into the D-I tournament was to simply keep doing what they’d been doing, Kimbrough said.

“Coach always asks us after the game if we’re proud of the way we played, did we play as hard as we could,” Kimbrough said. “Our mindset was to just play together as a team and continue at a pace where we would ultimately win.”

The real pressure came in the final when St. Mary’s refused to go quietly. “We were wondering how long the game would continue,” Kimbrough said. “It was a relief that we beat the odds. That’s the team nobody wants to face.”

“I would say he (Kimbrough) made up for what we lost along with everybody stepping up,” Stovall said.

The Red Devils are “already talking” about the 2025-26 season, Kimbrough said. “Feeling more pressure to potentially get a three-peat,” he said.

The Kimbrough file

Isaiah Kimbrough

Age — 17

Hometown — Jacksonville, Fla.

Other sports besides basketball — Track and field.

Favorite school subject — Math.

Least favorite school subject — History.

Favorite form of media entertainment — R&B music.

Favorite athlete — LeBron James.

Favorite performer — Tyler the Creator.