Utsunomiya Brex



Utsunomiya Brex is a Japanese professional basketball team based in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. After winning the JBL 2 in 2008, the team played in the National Basketball League. Previous team names include: Tochigi Brex and Link Tochigi Brex.

In July 2015 it was announced that the team would compete in the first division of the new Japan Professional Basketball League (B.League), which started in October 2016. The team became the first champions of the B.League on 27 May 2017, defeating the Toshiba Kawasaki Brave Thunders by the final score of 85–79.

Overview
The team began activities in December 2004, and participated in the lowest division of the Japanese Basketball League (JBL 2) from 2007-2008 after which the team was promoted to and participated in the league's highest division (JBL) from 2008-2013, participated in the National Basketball League (NBL) from 2013-2016, and is currently participating in the B.League since 2016.

The team has been operated by Tochigi Brex Co., Ltd. since the 2016-17 season, and was previously operated by Link Sports Entertainment Co., Ltd. The team is based in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, and its mother town is Kanuma City, Tochigi Prefecture.

The team name "Brex" is a coined word created from the pronunciation of the word "Breakthrough". In addition, the word "rex" means king in Latin. In essence, the name "Brex" is a combination of "B" for basketball and "rex" for king. It means that the teaming is aiming for the top of basketball.

The team follows the color scheme of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Pacers are based in Tochigi Prefecture's sister state of Indiana, USA, and acts as a tribute to the Pacers and the style of play and entertainment of the NBA.

The team's philosophy is "a team that is strongly loved and motivated". They won a championship in their first year in the JBL 2, and was subsequently promoted to the JBL in the following year, and won the JBL championship in the year after.

Home Arena
The Utsunomiya Brex's home arena is the Utsunomiya City Gymnasiam (Utsunomiya Brex Arena). Home games have also been held elsewhere in the Tochigi Prefecture beside Utsunomiya City. It has also been held in Gunma Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture in the past.

Mascot

 * Brecky (ブレッキー)

Brecky wears the jersey number 028, and specializes in three-point shooting. He participates in the team's events and home games.


 * Berry-chan (ベリーちゃん)

Berry-chan also participates in home games with Brecky as well as events in Tochigi Prefecture where she is a member of the cheerleading team, BREXY.

Cheerleading Team

 * BREXY

Along with the official cheerleading team, BREXY, there is "B-girls", which consists of 14 elementary and junior high school students who have passed the official cheerleading team's school auditions.

3x3 Team

 * UTSUNOMIYA BREX.EXE

The BREX.EXE began in the 2015-2016 season and took their name in the 2019-2020 season.

Founding History
In December 2004, the group began activities with the goal of establishing a professional basketball team in Tochigi Prefecture. Then in December 2005, they collected 15,000 signatures to support the establishment of the team. In June 2006, the group formally applied to join the now JBL, but was rejected a month later, and applied in September of the same year to the newly established lower league, currently the JBL2.

In April 2007, the team was able to participate in the JBL2 after the Otsuka Shokai Alphas (now Koshigaya Alphas) withdrew. In June 2007, the team name was decided to be "Tochigi Brex," and the team launched with Utsunomiya City set as their hometown, as well as 10 professional players on contract.

JBL2
The former coach of the Otsuka Shokai Alphas, Yoshinori Kaneda, became the Brex's first head coach, and in the 2007-2008 season, they advanced to the finals and defeated the Chiba Jets Funabashi to become JBL2 champions.

2008-2009 Season
When, in August 2007, the OSG Phoenix (now San-en NeoPhoenix) withdrew from the JBL, the league began recruiting new teams and the Brex formally applied once again for entry into the JBL. They were then promoted to the higher tiered league, and naming rights to the team were then sold to their main sponsor, Link & Motivation, who decided to call the team, "Link Tochigi Brex." The head coach then changed to Mitsuhiko Katou, who also brought along Yuta Tabuse and Jun Takaku as players. Other new players also included Kawamura Takuya, Itou Shunsuke, and Oomiya Hiromasa.

After the start of the 2008-2009 season, Kato was dismissed, and Thomas Wisman was brought in as the head coach. Wisman coached the Isuzu Motors (now Yokohama Giga Spirits) and the Jomo Sunflowers (now JX-Eneos Sunflowers).

2009-2010 Season
The team signed a two-year contract with Wisman as their head coach, and the team acquired Narito Namizato, the winner of the "Slam Dunk Scholarship".

On March 20, 2010, the team was victorious against the Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Dolphins (now Nagoya Diamond Dolphins) and was a lock for the fourth seed in the regular season and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since they were promoted to the JBL. After defeating the Panasonic Trians two games to one, they were able to advance to the finals where they met the Aisin Seahorses (now SeaHorses Mikawa). They were able to defeat the Seahorses in three games and became JBL champions.

2010-2011 Season
With a year left on his contract, Wisman retired from the team to join the Japanese National Basketball Team. Bruce Palmer, who was previously an advisory coach for the Toyota Alvark (now Alvark Tokyo) was appointed as the teams tentative head coach before he resigned due to problems concerning the cancellation of his contract with his former team. Jason Rabedeaux, the head coach of the Jiangsu Nanjing Steel Dragons (now Jiangsu Dragons), was signed to a two-year contract with the Brex.

Rabedeaux was dismissed on December 15 due to unsatisfactory results, and Palmer was reappointed as the team's head coach. After that, the season was cancelled due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

2011-2012 Season
Kazuto Aono, the former head coach of the Kyoto Hannaryz, was brought on as an assistant coach under Palmer. Daiji Yamada from Levanga Hokkaido and Tomoo Amino from the Aisin Seahorses were brought in as new players. In addition, former NBA player Olumide Oyedeji and former Hitachi SunRockers player Tyler Smith joined the roster. In December, the Kojima presents KIZUNA Dream Match 2011 charity game to help support the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami reconstruction efforts was held at Utsunomiya Brex Arena.

The team missed the playoffs this season, and dismissed Palmer on March 12, 2012. Aono acted as the head coach with four games remaining. The team's general manager resigned at the end of the season to become the deputy general manager and COO of the Japan Basketball Association.

2012-2013 Season
Shingo Kamata was appointed as the team's new general manager, and appointed Antanas Sireika as the new head coach. Sireika served as the head coach of the Lithuanian national team at the Athens Olympics.

Notable players
• 🇨🇲 Alfred Aboya

• 🇯🇵 Tomoo Amino

• 🇯🇵 Seiya Ando

• 🇺🇸 Kyle Barone

• 🇺🇸 Ousmane Barro

• 🇺🇸 Cedric Bozeman

• 🇺🇸 Tommy Brenton

• 🇺🇸 Chase Fieler

• 🇯🇵 Takatoshi Furukawa

• 🇺🇸 Randy Holcomb

• 🇯🇵 Shunsuke Itō

• 🇯🇵 Takuya Kawamura

• 🇺🇸 Chris King

• 🇺🇸 Ivan McFarlin

• 🇺🇸 Scott Merritt

• 🇺🇸 Drew Naymick

• 🇺🇸 Tyler Newton

• 🇳🇬 Olumide Oyedeji

• 🇺🇸 Lamar Rice

• 🇯🇵 Ryan Rossiter

• 🇺🇸 Tyler Smith

• 🇯🇵 Yuta Tabuse

• 🇯🇵 Ken Takeda

• 🇺🇸 Jahmar Thorpe

• 🇺🇸 Darian Townes

• Nikoloz Tskitishvili

• Brandon Jawato

Coaches

 * Yoshinori Kaneta
 * Mitsuhiko Kato
 * Jason Rabedeaux
 * Bruce Palmer
 * Antanas Sireika
 * Thomas Wisman
 * Kenji Hasegawa
 * Ryuzo Anzai
 * Norio Sassa
 * Darius Dimavičius (asst)
 * Michael Katsuhisa (asst)

Arenas

 * Brex Arena Utsunomiya
 * TKC Strawberry Arena
 * Tochigi Prefectural North Gymnasium
 * Tochigi Prefectural South Gymnasium

Practice facilities

 * TKC Strawberry Arena