Kōzai Hiroaki

Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1988. Began playing wheelchair basketball at the age of 12. Trained with professional club Chiba Hawks, where he met mentor and current national team coach Oikawa Shinpei. Made his national team debut for the under-23 squad when in the tenth grade. Played college basketball from 2010 to 2013 at the University of Illinois under leading wheelchair basketball coach Mike Frogley, earning a US national title in 2010 and back-to-back season MVP honors in 2012 and 2013. Was part of Japan’s silver-medal teams at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Para Games. Has played professionally since 2013 in Germany and Japan, including for Japanese team No Excuses and BG Baskets Hamburg and RSV Lahn-Dill of the Bundesliga.