The Saga Ballooners, a new B. League third-division team, have hired Takayuki Yasuda as an assistant coach, it was announced on Wednesday.

Yasuda spent the past three seasons as the head coach for the Kumamoto Volters, a B2 club. In his three seasons at the helm, the Volters compiled a 130-50 record. Former New Zealand men's national team bench boss Nenad Vucinic was hired as Kumamoto's new head coach last week.

Yasuda, meanwhile, joins Saga sideline supervisor Luis Guil Torres' staff. The 47-year-old Spaniard's hiring was announced late last month.

"We will do our best together ... so that we can show our aggressive, dynamic and attractive basketball to everyone in Saga," Torres said in a statement.

New addition

The SeaHorses Mikawa on Friday announced that veteran shooting guard Takuya Kawamura, a prolific scorer during the JBL and NBL eras, has agreed to a deal for the upcoming season.

Kawamura, 33, averaged 15.6 points in 59 games for the Yokohama B-Corsairs last season, his third with the team.