Champaign's Yasunaga looking forward to homecoming
· Yahoo Sports
Apr. 16—CHAMPAIGN — Tucker Yasunaga and the California men's gymnastics team will have plenty of local support for their final meet of the season.
Even if the Bears are competing more than 2,100 miles away from their campus in Berkeley at State Farm Center in Champaign this weekend.
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That's because Yasunaga can serve as part tour guide and welcome committee to Champaign this week for his team. The Champaign native and 2023 Judah Christian graduate will compete, along with the rest of his Cal teammates, inside State Farm Center beginning on Friday in the NCAA championships.
"I've had this date basically circled since the start of season," Yasunaga told The News-Gazette.
"Definitely excited to come home. Family. Friends. Everybody's going to be there."
Yasunaga is the only gymnast on Cal's roster from Illinois, much less the only one from Champaign. A place where Illini gymnastics has thrived for decades, but not so much on the high school scene.
He's had plenty to look forward to since it was announced that the NCAA championships would take place in his hometown.
"I really wanted to be in the lineup," Yasunaga said. "I pushed myself all summer long just to be in lineups and to be in that spot so I get to compete there."
His father, Shig, said the Yasunaga faithful will be easy to spot at State Farm Center when the Bears take the floor at 1 p.m. Friday in the first of two qualifying sessions. And likely easier to hear.
"This entire week, I think, will be a celebration of his overall journey and, to be quite frank, every moment that led him back to where he came from," Shig said. "Everyone connected with him is excited for him."
Tucker started working in the gym toward a craft that eventually took him to the Division I ranks when he was just five years old.
He spent much of his youth career training with Ian Dennehy, the founder of Champaign Gymnastics Academy.
"Working with Tucker was a really fun experience," Dennehy said. "I got to watch him grow up and spend a lot of time with him. He's a really sharp, hard-working kid. You can tell pretty early whether a kid really has what it takes to be really good at the sport."
Dennehy hosted Cal for a team dinner upon the Bears' arrival in Champaign earlier this week.
"Some of our younger competitive boys got to meet the Cal guys and get some autographs," Dennehy said. "It was a fun little homecoming event for Tucker."
Tucker, for his part, grew up an Illinois fan and remembers going to plenty of basketball games at State Farm Center.
Shig noted that Tucker attended the 2008 Rose Bowl and had visited every Big Ten football stadium before the conference's westward expansion in 2024 included Oregon, Southern Cal, UCLA and Washington.
Competing at a high-major program like Cal isn't something the Yasunaga family takes for granted. The same sentiment applies to watching Tucker this week back in his hometown.
"It will always be meaningful to him," Shig Yasunaga said. "That's what makes this trip home so special. He gets to come home and he gets to compete on this stage. He gets to compete with those guys (in) the Illinois uniform that he's so often rooted for."
Tucker — a sociology major — chose to take his talents to Berkeley, Calif., for his college career, where he helped Cal set a modern program parallel bar record earlier this season.
"I think the team fit me really well," Tucker said. "My dad always said I was a California kid, and I had the opportunity to go out there and got the spot. This team has been amazing for me. They're like brothers to me."
Tucker's return to Champaign isn't the first time he's had the chance to perform in front of a friendly crowd during his college career.
Cal competed in a triangular meet at Greenville on Feb. 7, with plenty of family, friends and former coaches making the two-hour drive to southern Illinois to watch the Bears beat Simpson and fall to host Greenville.
"That was a much different experience," Tucker said. "A little far away from Champaign, but that just shows the support that I think I'm going to have in Champaign as well."
Shig has also flown to California several times to watch Tucker perform.
"This whole season, I would say, has been special for him," Shig said. "The (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) championships were hosted by Cal, so he got to compete at the conference tournament in his college home. Now he gets to come here and compete at the NCAA in his hometown."
Enjoying the NCAA's biggest stage is something Tucker is looking forward, but how Cal performs this weekend is even bigger. But he doesn't take the opportunity of returning to Champaign for granted.
"I'm just really excited just to be there and be in a home environment in front of a bunch of family and friends," Tucker said. "I'm excited to show off the gymnastics that I've been doing on the West Coast."