The is a Japanese 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

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

that competes in the first division of the B.League.

Franchise history

Foundation

In 2020, Japanet announced the creation of

's first professional basketball club. The club was formally launched on July 10, and will compete in B3 or the third division of the B.League beginning the 2021–22 season. The company was established with as the president and CEO, and as the director. The company is responsible for the operation and promotion of the basketball club as well as the management of the athletes. The company headquarters is located in Manzaimachi, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture. On January 26, 2021, the team announced that Takumi Ito will serve as the head coach and general manager.

Naming the team

In July 2020, the management asked suggestions for the team name. On September 15, they revealed that the 2,324 entries were narrowed down to three prospects: , and . To select the team name, online voting was done and voting events were also held in different parts of the Nagasaki Prefecture. On October 30, the club name ''Nagasaki Velca'' was unveiled. "Velca" is derived from the words "welcome," "well community" and "victory."

Promotion to B2

The team finished their inaugural season with 42 wins and 3 losses, setting a B3 record with a .933 winning percentage. They were subsequently named B3 Champions and earned a promotion to B2 or the second division of the B.League. On May 17, 2022, the team announced that Takumi Ito will continue to serve as the general manager and

Kenjiro Maeda is currently a professional basketball assistant coach for Nagasaki Velca in Japan, and the former assistant coach for Melbourne United of the National Basketball League (Australia), NBL. He is not good at speaking English. References Externa ...

, who was the team's associate head coach, will take over as the head coach beginning the 2022–23 season. On May 29, B.League announced that Nagasaki will compete in the West conference of B2.

Uniform

Jersey sponsors

On April 29, 2021, the team announced that Nishikawa is the jersey sponsor beginning the 2021–22 season.

Current roster

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:
- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
- Played at least one official international match for his senior national team. * Masaya Karimata * Javier Carter

Head coaches

* Takuma Ito: 2021–2022 *

: 2022–2024 * Mody Maor: 2024–present

Management

Ownership

General managers

Arenas

* HAPPINESS ARENA

Practice facilities

The team opened a new practice facility, the , in

Sasebo City is a Core cities of Japan, core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a populat ...

on May 27, 2021.

Fanbase

The fan club of the team is called .

References

External links

* {{Japanese B.League Nagasaki Velca Basketball teams in Japan Sports clubs and teams in Nagasaki Prefecture Basketball teams established in 2020 2020 establishments in Japan