Kenichi Takahashi (basketball)

Kenichi Takahashi (高橋 憲一, Takahashi Ken'ichi; born December 22, 1980), nicknamed Shocho, is a former Japanese professional basketball player and served for Akita Northern Happinets of the B.League as the ambassador.^[1] Takahashi is currently the instructor for Toreiku Katagami.^[2] He was selected by the Sendai 89ers with the third overall pick in the 2006 bj League draft. He has played for the four Tohoku clubs of the bj league. In October 2015 he became a one-day honorary police chief at the Akita Higashi Police Station. Since then a police officer salute has become popular among Akita's boosters.^[3][4] Takahashi studies NBA to improve his game,^[5] and he is an Air Jordan collector.^[6] His retirement memorial game was held at Akita Prefectural Gymnasium on October 29, 2017.^[7][8]

Kenichi Takahashi

Ken Takahashi in 2008
Prestige International Aranmare Akita
Position	Advisery coach
League	Women's Japan Basketball League （2021-）
Personal information
Born	(1980-12-22) December 22, 1980 (age 44) Shōwa, Akita
Nationality	Japanese
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight	168 lb (76 kg)
Career information
High school	Akita Technical (Akita, Japan)
College	Tohoku Gakuin (1998–2002)
Playing career	2003–2017
Career history
As a player:
2003–2006	Hitachi Cable
2006-2012	Sendai 89ers
2012-2014	Iwate Big Bulls
2014-2015	Aomori Wat's
2015-2017	Akita Northern Happinets
As a coach:
2019-present	Prestige International Aranmare Akita (advisery)
Career highlights
bj league Free Throw Pct Leader (2009-10) bj league All-star (2014) JBL2 Rookie of the Year (2003) JBL2 Best Five (2005) JBL2 Assist leader (2005)

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

*	Led the league

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2006-07	Sendai	40	40	29.2	37.0	34.6	62.5	0.9	1.8	0.6	0.0	8.5
2007-08	Sendai	41	37	24.1	40.3	32.5	73.8	0.9	2.2	0.7	0.0	6.7
2008-09	Sendai	52	52	28.4	39.4	37.3	76.8	1.4	3.8	0.8	0.1	8.8
2009-10	Sendai	47	45	29.0	39.9	34.7	88.2	1.2	3.6	0.4	0.2	10.9
2010-11	Sendai	32	3	23.0	40.3	37.6	83.7	1.0	2.4	0.3	0.0	7.2
2011-12	Sendai	42	3	11.1	38.8	28.8	70.0	0.5	0.7	0.3	0.0	3.4
2012-13	Iwate	52	49	30.5	43.6	42.5	79.2	1.8	2.7	0.7	0.1	10.3
2013-14	Iwate	52	50	28.9	42.8	37.6	84.5	1.7	3.4	0.8	0.1	10.1
2014-15	Aomori	48	24	21.6	34.4	31.0	87.5	1.5	2.7	0.4	0.1	6.3
2015-16	Akita	52	0	20.0	37.4	34.3	77.8	1.6	2.9	0.3	0.0	4.9
2016-17	Akita	55	2	12.7	36.0	36.4	66.7	0.7	0.7	0.2	0.0	2.8
Career 2006-17		513	305	23.5	.395	.356	.805	1.2	2.5	0.5	0.1	7.3

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2011-12	Sendai	2		7.0	.143	.000	.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
2015-16	Akita	6	0	20.17	.361	.375	.833	1.17	2.83	0.33	0.17	6.17
2016-17	Akita	3	0		.333	.000	.000	0.33	0.66	0.33	0	0.7

Trivia

• He loves to read Yoshihiro Takahashi's Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin manga.^[9]

Personal

His father Norito Takahashi runs a restaurant in Okubo, Katagami where Kenichi's awards, pictures and uniforms are displayed.^[10]