Hiroshima Dragonflies

Hiroshima Dragonflies
Hiroshima Dragonflies
Conference	West
Division	1st
Leagues	B.League
Founded	2013; 11 years ago
History	Hiroshima Dragonflies; (2014–present)
Arena	Hiroshima Sun Plaza
Capacity	6,052
Location	Hiroshima Prefecture
Team colors	Teal, Orange, Brown, White ;
Head coach	Shogo Asayama
Ownership	Nova Holdings
Championships	1 (2024)
Website	hiroshimadragonflies.com

The Hiroshima Dragonflies (in Japanese: 広島ドラゴンフライズ) are a professional basketball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. In October 2014 they commenced competing in the Western Conference of the Japanese National Basketball League.^[1] In September 2016 they joined the B.League, the NBL's successor league, and currently play in the first division's Western Conference. The Dragonflies have won the B.League championship once, in 2024.^[2]

History

Foundation

In April 2014, following the announcement that the former Japan Basketball League would be restructured as the National Basketball League, a group was launched to support the formation of a professional basketball team in Hiroshima.^[3] In May 2014 the group received support from the prefectural basketball association ^[4] and an application to join the NBL was submitted in July.^[5] In August 2014 the application was approved^[6] and the name Hiroshima Dragonflies was decided.^[7] In October 2014 an operating company Hiroshima Dragonflies Corporation (株式会社広島ドラゴンフライズ) was established.

Championship (2024)

On May 29, 2024, the Dragonflies won their first-ever B1 League championship after they defeated the Ryukyu Golden Kings 2–1 in the finals.^[2]

Team

Head coach

The inaugural head coach of the Dragonflies was Kenichi Sako, a former Japanese national player. It was the first coaching role for Sako, who was known as "Mr. Basketball" during his playing career that ended in 2011.^[8]

The team has not been able to retain a coach during the 2017–2018 season, and players have been filling in to the team's detriment.

Roster

Hiroshima Dragonflies roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Age
G	0	Ryo Terashima	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	27 – (1997-10-23)23 October 1997
F/C	1	Masato Ichikawa	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	23 – (2001-09-20)20 September 2001
G	3	Naoto Tsuji	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	35 – (1989-08-08)8 August 1989
G	5	Isaiah Murphy	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	26 – (1998-04-10)10 April 1998
F	7	Seiya Funyu	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	30 – (1993-12-15)15 December 1993
F/C	8	Kerry Blackshear Jr.	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	27 – (1997-01-28)28 January 1997
G	10	Toshiki Kamisawa	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)	26 – (1998-06-02)2 June 1998
PG	12	Takuto Nakamura	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	23 – (2001-03-03)3 March 2001
F	23	Ryo Sadohara	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	25 – (1999-10-24)24 October 1999
F/C	24	Nick Mayo	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	27 – (1997-08-18)18 August 1997
G	30	Ryo Yamazaki	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	24 – (2000-09-25)25 September 2000
G/F	34	Keijiro Mitani	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	23 – (2001-06-15)15 June 2001