The Kobe Storks () are a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Hyogo Prefecture,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

that compete in the second division of the Japanese

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

History

The club was formed in 2011 as the Hyogo Storks (兵庫ストークス） and entered the second division of the

Japan Basketball League The Japan Basketball League (JBL) was a professional basketball league in Japan. It made up the top-tier of basketball in Japan alongside the bj league, Japan's other basketball competition, with no promotion and relegation between bj and the J ...

(JBL2) in the 2011-12 season, finishing with a record of 17 wins and 10 losses. The club was JBL2 league champions in the 2012-13 season with a record of 27 wins and 5 losses,The Storks Take Flight
/ref> which was the final season of the league before it was reformed as the

National Basketball Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. The club’s success in the 2012-13 season earned it promotion to the first division of the JBL, which was reformed as the NBL for the 2013-2014 season. On 16 July 2015 the Storks announced an agreement with the City of Nishinomiya that will see the team based in the city and the name changed to the Nishinomiya Storks. The decision is also one move aimed at the club securing a position in the new

Japan Professional Basketball League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

that will commence in the autumn of 2016.

Home arena

During the 2013–14 and 2014-15 seasons, the Hyogo Storks played approximately half of their home games at the

Kobe Central Gymnasium Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in the Kansai re ...

in the Chuo Ward of Kobe. As the team was officially based within Hyogo Prefecture (and not Kobe city), it played home games at various towns within the prefecture. For the 2015-2016 season, the Nishinomiya Storks will play about 40% (around ten) and since 2016-2017 season, around two-thirds of their home games at the Nishinomiya City Central Gymnasium. * Nishinomiya City Central Gymnasium * Kobe Tokiwa Arena * Wink Gymnasium * Kakogawa Municipal General Gymnasium * Komagatani Sports Park Gymnasium * Takarazuka City General Gymnasium * Sumoto City Cultural Gymnasium * Kamigori Sports Center

Coaches

* BT Toews * Danny Yoshikawa *

Yasunori Ueda is the former head coach of the Iwate Big Bulls in the Japanese B.League. Head coaching record , - , style="text-align:left;", Hyogo Storks , style="text-align:left;", 2014-15 , 36, , 8, , 28, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in We ...

Kensaku Tennichi is the Head coach of the Osaka Evessa in the Japanese B.League. Head coaching record , - , style="text-align:left;", Matsushita Kangaroos , style="text-align:left;", 2003 , 28, , 14, , 14, , , , 4th , , , 2, , 0, , 2, , , 4th in JBL ...

Miodrag Rajković Miodrag Rajković ( sr-cyr, Миодраг Рајковић, born 8 March 1971) is a Serbian professional basketball coach. Head coaching record , - , style="text-align:left;", Toyama Grouses , style="text-align:left;", 2017-18 , 60, , 24, ...

* Mathias Fischer

Roster

Notable players

Draelon Burns Draelon Burns (born October 7, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for Shinshu Brave Warriors in Japan. Standing at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), he primarily plays as point guard or shooting guard. Playing career Burns joined Úrvalsdeil ...

Isaac Butts Isaac Butts IV (born May 28, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Kobe Storks of the B.League. Butts played high school basketball at Georgia Military College Prep School until 2007. He averaged 26 points per game and 17 r ...

* Seaun Eddy *

Davante Gardner Davante Gardner (born September 2, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for SeaHorses Mikawa in Japan. He played college basketball at Marquette University, where he received the Big East Conference Sixth Man of the Year The Nat ...

* Herbert Hill *

Billy Knight William R. Knight (born June 9, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player and executive. Playing with the Indiana Pacers in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and later the National Basketball Association (NBA), he ...

Cheikh Mbodj Cheikh Tidiane Mbodj (born August 1, 1987) is a Senegalese professional basketball player for Tachikawa Dice of the B.League. He competed in college basketball for Cincinnati. Professional career In the 2017-18 season Mbodj averaged 11 points a ...

Yuto Otsuka is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Altiri Chiba The Altiri Chiba is a professional basketball team that competes in the first division of the Japanese B.League. They are based in Chiba, Chiba. Domestic *B.League(B2) **Ch ...

* Larry Owens * Dillion Sneed *

Akitomo Takeno , nicknamed AT, is a current professional basketball assistant coach for Osaka Evessa in Japan. He was selected by the Niigata Albirex BB with the fifth overall pick in the 2008 bj League draft. He shortened his career due to a torn ACL in ...

Jordan Vandenberg Jordan Vandenberg (born 25 March 1990) is an Australian professional basketball player for the McKinnon Cougars of the Big V. He played four seasons of college basketball for North Carolina State University. He also holds a Dutch passport becaus ...

Brad Waldow Brad Ernest Waldow (born December 30, 1991) is an American basketball player who last played for the Bashkimi of the Kosovo Superleague. He competed in college for the St. Mary's Gaels. Early life Waldow began playing competitive basketball in ...

DeVaughn Washington DeVaughn Lamar Washington (born March 29, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Prawira Bandung of the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL). Washington is known for being a consistent scorer in Europe. Standing at , he plays ...

References

External links

Official homepage
* {{Japanese B.League Basketball teams in Japan Basketball teams established in 2011 2011 establishments in Japan Sports clubs and teams in Hyōgo Prefecture Nishinomiya