When the bj-league tipped off in the fall of 2005, Dai Oketani was working as an assistant under Oita HeatDevils head coach Jawann Oldham, a former NBA big man.
Oldham's tenure in the bj-league lasted just 16 games, and Oita was 4-12 when he was fired. Oketani was promoted to bench boss in January 2006, and he's become one of the upstart circuit's biggest success stories.
On Sunday, the 37-year-old Kyoto native became the first coach in bj-league history to amass 300 wins in the league, leading the Iwate Big Bulls to a bounce-back 86-69 triumph over the host Niigata Albirex BB.