Michael Katsuhisa

Michael Katsuhisa (勝久 マイケル, Katsuhisa Maikeru) is a former professional basketball player and the head coach of the Shinshu Brave Warriors in the Japanese B.League.

Michael Katsuhisa

Shinshu Brave Warriors
Position	Head coach
League	B.League
Personal information
Born	(1983-04-26) April 26, 1983 (age 42) Tokyo, Japan
Listed height	171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Listed weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Career information
High school	Bellevue High School (Bellevue, Washington)
College	Senshu University
Playing career	2009–2011
Career history
As a player:
2009–2011	Osaka Evessa
As a coach:
2011–2013	Yokohama B-Corsairs (asst.)
2013–2015	Yokohama B-Corsairs
2015–2017	Shimane Susanoo Magic
2017-2018	Link Tochigi Brex (asst)
2018-	Shinshu Brave Warriors

Early life

Katsuhisa was born in Tokyo to a Japanese father and American mother. He attended Nishimachi International School in Tokyo, where his father was the headmaster, then Bellevue High School in Washington, United States.^[1]

Professional career

As a player

Katsuhisa was drafted fifth overall by the Osaka Evessa in the 2009 bj league draft. At the end of his first season he was released as a player and signed as a coach of the Evessa's reserve team. However, injuries to Evessa's main players saw he re-signed as a player in January 2011.

As a coach

In the 2011 off-season he left the Evessa to become an assistant coach at the expansion team Yokohama B-Corsairs under former NBA player Reggie Geary. Katsuhisa was Geary's assistant and interpreter for two seasons, including during their championship 2012-13 season.^[2] At the end of the 2012-13 season Geary left the B-Corsairs and Katsuhisa became head coach.^[1] However, the team lost most of its championship stars and struggled under Katsuhisa. In his first season as head coach the B-Corsairs finished with a 24-28 record, missing out on the playoffs for the first time in the club's history.^[3]

Katsuhisa remained as head coach for the 2014-15 season. The club struggled further however, with star Wayne Marshall missing a quarter of the season due to injury.^[3] They finished the season in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with an 18-34 win–loss record.^[4]

In June 2015 Katsuhisa was named as the coach of the Shimane Susanoo Magic for the 2015-16 season. He was replaced at the B-Corsairs by his assistant, Taketo Aoki.^[4]

Head coaching record

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
Yokohama B-Corsairs	2013-14	52	24	28	.462	7th in Eastern	-	-	-	–	Missed playoffs
Yokohama B-Corsairs	2014-15	52	18	34	.346	10th in Eastern	-	-	-	–	Missed playoffs
Shimane Susanoo Magic	2015-16	52	37	15	.712	3rd in Western	2	0	2	.000	Lost in first round
Shimane Susanoo Magic	2016-17	60	51	9	.850	1st in B2 Western	4	2	2	.500	Runners-up in B2
Shinshu Brave Warriors	2018-19	60	48	12	.800	1st in B2 Central	4	4	0	1.000	B2 Champion
Shinshu Brave Warriors	2019-20	47	40	7	.851	1st in B2 Central	-	-	-	–	-

Personal life

Katsuhisa's older brother Geoffrey Katsuhisa works as an interpreter and has been the interpreter for the coaches of several clubs in Japan's professional basketball leagues.^[1] In June 2015 Geoffrey himself became the head coach of the Iwate Big Bulls.^[5]