Longtime assistant coach Ryuji Kawai has been named the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix's new coach, replacing the departed Kazuo Nakamura, it was announced Thursday night.
Kawai, who turns 36 on July 16, has been in the Phoenix organization since 1994. He was a player from 1994-99 for the JBL's OSG Phoenix before becoming an assistant coach in 1999 and helping the team excel after it moved on to the bj-league.
Another ex-Nakamura assistant, Koto Toyama, took over as the bench boss of the expansion Miyazaki Shining Suns before the start of the 2010-11 season.