Levanga Hokkaido have hired Spaniard Juan Manuel Hurtado Perez as their new head coach, the National Basketball League team announced on Friday.
The 39-year-old Perez was a coaching consultant for Mexican League team Soles Mexicali in 2010-11. He served as the top-flight Caceres 2016 head coach from 2008-10 and as the Spanish League team's general manager in the 2007-08 season. Before joining Caceres, he was an assistant coach at CAI Zaragoza (2005-06) and the head coach at AB Merida (2003-05), a pair of teams in his native country.
Perez was a scout for the University of Utah from 2002-03. He began his coaching career at Caceres as an assistant coach in 1999.
Under ex-coach Scott Berry, Hokkaido had a league-worst 6-36 record last season in the eight-team JBL; Levanga went 22-20 in 2011-12 under Torsten Loibl. The league's relaunch is set for late September as a 12-team circuit with a 54-game season schedule.