Levanga Hokkaido is a Japanese professional basketball team based in the city of Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido. The club was founded in 2006 as Rera Kamuy Hokkaido, this name comes from the language of the Ainu, an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaido, and means "god of the winds".[1] The franchise changed its name twice in 2011; the first when the club's parent company was kicked out of the league due to financial woes in the season. The team ended the season with a league-backed management group and a new moniker, calling itself Basketball Club Hokkaido. And finally, took its current name Levanga Hokkaido, in August 2011.[2]

Levanga Hokkaido
Levanga Hokkaido logo
LeaguesB.League
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
HistoryRera Kamuy Hokkaido
Basketball Club Hokkaido
Levanga Hokkaido
ArenaHokkai Kitayell
LocationSapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Team colorsChartreuse and Sapphire
   
Main sponsorEagle Pachinko
PresidentTakehiko Orimo
Websitewww.levanga.com
Third jersey
Team colours
Third

The team debuted in the Japan Basketball League in the 2007–2008 season and is one of only three teams in the league not owned by a major Japanese manufacturing company.

Levanga plays its home games mainly at the Hokkai Kitayell, but, as the team represents the entire Hokkaido Prefecture, also plays some home-games at the Asahikawa City General Gymnasium, Otaru City Gymnasium, Hakodate Arena, Obihiro City General Gymnasium & Kushiro Shitsugen no Kaze Arena.

The club was 200 million yen in debt in March 2017,[3][4] but has since paid it off.[5]

Honours edit

Continental edit

Roster edit

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Levanga Hokkaido roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age
F/C 1   Danieldan Nnanna 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 26 – (1997-06-02)2 June 1997
G/F 2   Dwight Ramos 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 25 – (1998-09-02)2 September 1998
G 4   Shuto Terazono 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) 29 – (1994-06-28)28 June 1994
G 7   Tsukasa Nakano 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 27 – (1996-10-28)28 October 1996
G/F 11   Ryota Sakurai (C) 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 41 – (1983-03-13)13 March 1983
G 15   Ren Shimatani 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) 23 – (2000-07-28)28 July 2000
G 17   Shun Watanuki 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 36 – (1987-11-02)2 November 1987
F/C 21   Darral Willis 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 28 – (1996-01-21)21 January 1996
F 24   De'Mon Brooks 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 31 – (1992-05-28)28 May 1992
G 37   Ko Takahashi 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) 22 – (2002-02-13)13 February 2002
C 40   Thomas Welsh 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 28 – (1996-02-03)3 February 1996
G 66   Yuta Matsushita 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 24 – (1999-05-02)2 May 1999
G/F 81   Kohei Sekino 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 29 – (1994-08-01)1 August 1994
Head coach

  Ryutaro Onodera

Assistant coach(es)

  Taku Saito
 Fuminori Aiura
 Tomohiro Takeda


Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured

Updated: 24 January 2023

Notable players edit

To appear in this section a player must have either:

- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team or one NBA game at any time.

Coaches edit

Average regular season home game attendance edit

Practice facilities edit

 
Kaminishi Village

References edit

  1. ^ Kane Kumagai, Translated by Yongdeok Cho (Noir) (2006). "Ainu for Beginners". UniLang. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2008.
  2. ^ "Name change". japantimes. 2011. Retrieved 1 Jan 2017.
  3. ^ Hokkaido Shimbun (6 August 2015). "債務超過解消と本拠地確保 NBL北海道、新L1部入りの鍵". Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  4. ^ Yomiuri Shimbun (3 March 2017). "レバンガ、2億円債務超過 B1資格継続審議". Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  5. ^ "株式会社レバンガ北海道(第8期)決算報告について". レバンガ北海道.
  6. ^ "レバンガ北海道公式練習場契約発表会見実施のご報告". レバンガ北海道.

External links edit