San-en NeoPhoenix

San-en NeoPhoenix
San-en NeoPhoenix logo
LeaguesB.League
Founded1965; 59 years ago (1965)
HistoryOSG
OSG Higashimikawa
Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix
San-en NeoPhoenix
ArenaToyohashi City General Gymnasium
LocationThe eastern Mikawa, Aichi and Shizuoka
Team colorsRed, White
   
Head coachAtsushi Ōno
Championships3
Retired numbers1 (3)
Websitewww.neophoenix.jp
Third jersey
Team colours
Third

The San-en NeoPhoenix (三遠ネオフェニックス, San'en Neofenikkusu) are a Japanese professional basketball team based in the eastern Mikawa and Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture region of central Japan, that competes in the B.League.

The team was founded in 1965, as the company team of the OSG Corporation, a Toyokawa-based machine parts manufacturer. It remained a local team in Aichi prefecture until 1995, when it first participated in the All-Japan Professional Basketball Championships. It joined the Japan Basketball League (JBL) in 1999, winning the Second Division championship in 2000. “Higashimikawa” was added to the team name in 2007, when its home stadium was moved to Toyohashi. It ended the 2007 season in third place.

From 2008, the Higashimikawa Phoenix joined the new bj league, and the following year, “Hamamatsu” was added to the team name to emphasize the compound franchise among Toyohashi, Hamamatsu, and the surrounding districts and the team was legally registered as an independent corporation under the name of “Phoenix Communications”. The team signed the noted Chinese basketball star, Sun Mingming, in 2008.[1]

In July 2015, the team announced its participation in the inaugural season of Japan's professional basketball league which debuted in 2016, competing in the first division.[2] Prior to joining the league, the club accordingly changed its name to "San-en NeoPhoenix", and began playing their home games in Toyohashi.

  1. ^ "MING MING SUN basketball profile". AFP. 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  2. ^ "JPBLの「1部~3部階層分け発表記者会見」について" [Regarding the JPBL's "Division 1-3 Assignment Press Conference"] (in Japanese). Nishinomiya Storks. 30 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2015.