TOKYO (BJ League) - The BJ League held its 2nd annual rookie draft on May 22 at the Tokyo Harajuku Quest Center.
This year's draft was initially expected to assemble a weaker draft pool than last year's inaugural draft and the number of players selected definitely reflected such assumptions.
There were only 15 players selected in the draft, led by Takanori Goya, who was selected first overall by the Toyama Grouses.
Other selections in the first round, in the order they were selected are: Teruaki Ishida (Takamatsu Five Arrows), Kenichi Takahashi (Sendai 89ers), and Hirotaka Sato (Osaka Evessa).
Tokyo, and Saitama did not have any selections in the draft since they protected seven (7) players for the expansion draft.
Each protected player after three players would be count against one draft selection.
On the other hand, the Oita Heatdevils had four players protected and was eligible to draft a player from the second round, but chose not to do so.
From this point on, teams will hold its own tryouts/workouts during the month of June to assemble the rest of its players.
It will be interesting to see how teams will build their franchises for the upcoming 2006-2007 season.
Listed below are each team's draft selections, in the order they were selected:
Sendai 89ers:
Kenichi Takahashi, 181 cm 74kg. Former Team: Hitachi Cable
Yuji Kondo, 187 cm 75kg. Former Team: Hoshizaki Tokai
Niigata Albirex BB:
Yuichi Ikeda, 191cm 93kg. Former Team: Tokai University
Chihiro Tanaka, 203cm 89kg. Former Team: Osaka Sangyo University
Toyama Grouses:
Takanori Goya, 188cm 80kg. Former Team: Nihon University
Sung Ming Eum, 195cm 86kg. Former Team: Oita Heatdevils
Satoshi Yonemoto, 177cm 76kg. Former Team: Mitsubishi Melco Dolphins
Takatoshi Ishibashi, 210cm 140kg. Former Team: Toyoma Grouses Club Team
Seiichi Nojiri, 194cm 76kg. Former Team: Otsuka Alphas
Saitama Broncos: No Selections. 7 players protected
Tokyo Apache: No Selections. 7 players protected
Osaka Evessa:
Hirotaka Sato, 203cm 107kg. Former Team: Panasonic Super Kangaroos
Tasuku Saitoh, 180cm 77kg. Former Team: Nihon Taiku University
Takamatsu Five Arrows:
Teruaki Ishida, 196cm 94kg. Former Team: Chuo University
Diane Nuro, 207cm 98kg. Former Team: Fukuoka Daiichi Highschool
Shuhei Shiroma, 189cm 88kg. Former Team: Fukuoka Red Falcons
Hiroyuki Kikuchi, 191cm 83kg. Former Team: Kyushu Sangyo University
Isaac Sojourner, 201 cm 103kg. Former Team; Shizuoka Edge One Club Team
Makoto Kita, 169cm 66kg. Former Team: Toyota Tsusho
John Scribe
FIBA Official Correspondent in Japan