Yukinori Suzuki, who guided the Oita HeatDevils for the past four seasons, was named the first head coach in Kanazawa Samuraiz history on Thursday.
The expansion team will make its bj-league debut for the 2015-16 season, the circuit's final scheduled season before the launch of the JPBL, a three-tier entity consisting of 40-something NBL, bj-league and NBDL squads, a year later.
Looking at the next chapter of his basketball career, Suzuki acknowledged that "my job, of course, is to strengthen the team."