Kiyoshi, Teppei

The progenitor of Seirin's basketball team and its ace, Kiyoshi is the last of the original Seirin team members to be introduced, due to a hospitalization for a knee injury he got during a game. Rumored to be very capable, his preferred position is that of the point guard, but since their team lacked any other player with the body size to play center, he offered to fill that hole. On Koganei's suggestion, he apparently tries to play both, despite the inherent impossibility. While goofy nearly to the point of stupidity, he is very shrewd and is almost always plotting something, though it is rarely what others would inherently conclude. With a pair of big hands that allow him to grasp the ball in play single-handedly, Kiyoshi possesses immense ball-handling skills, and an uncanny sense of timing that allows him to make decisions on-court after his opponents have already reacted. He is renowned and even revered by many players in the realm of high-school basketball, and is one of the few players to have held his own against the Generation of Miracles during their peak. While he is currently able to play, the knee injury he sustained during his freshman year was quite severe: formally speaking it required surgery, but the process would make him unable to play basketball for the rest of his high school career. He instead opted to rehabilitate without invasive procedures, though he would only be able to do so for one year at the best. Despite this setback, he vows to make the most of the time he has.

[Spoiler] Among high school basketball players, he is one of the 'Uncrowned Kings' (無冠の五将 [mukan no goshou]), a group of five players, though overshadowed by the Generation of Miracles, of such great prowess and skill, had it not been for Kuroko and his ilk, they may have attained the greater moniker. Famous for his unaccountable form and stabilizing presence, he is known as 'Iron Heart' (鉄心[tesshin]). [/Spoiler]