During the past four seasons of major personnel changes for the Sendai 89ers, veteran guard Takehiko Shimura has been the one constant on the club's roster.
He's the lone player still on the club who competed under original 89ers bench boss Honoo Hamaguchi in the 2010-11 campaign, which was cut short by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Sendai was 24-12 at the time, sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the eventual champion Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix.
He suited up under then-coach Bob Pierce, when the new-look team resumed operations the next fall and reached the playoffs. He then made an impact under interim coach Takeo Mabashi, the general manager, who took over for Pierce in the second half of the 2012-13 season.