The Saitama Broncos, struggling through the bj-league season, announced on Tuesday that head coach Charles Johnson will become a player/coach beginning in February. The league office said a player/coach is not authorized to coach while playing.
An assistant coach must take over the job at that time. The 44-year-old Johnson played for the Broncos in the corporate Japan League and retired after the 2002-03 season.
He was the leading scorer in the 1994-95 season. Former Broncos and Utah Jazz player David Benoit will join the squad as an assistant coach. Benoit suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury in December.