The Akita Northern Happinets are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Akita that competes in the Eastern Conference of the First Division of the B.League. The team was formed as an expansion team of the bj league in 2010 and found success for the first time in 2013–14, finishing their fourth season as league runners-up. They went on to finish as runners-up for the second year in a row in 2014–15 and in third place in 2015–16, the final season of the bj league. History Akita Prefecture's connection with basketball has historically lay with Noshiro Technical High School, which has won a total of 58 national-level championships, and the Isuzu Motors corporate team (Akita Isuzu Motors, currently the Yokohama Giga Spirits), which was based in Akita from 1955 until 1987. Following the formation of the independent bj league in 2006, a committee was formed to investigate the formation of a professional club within the prefecture in 2007 but was unsuccessful. In June 2008 another association was formed to pursue a bj league franchise licence and a pre-season match between the Sendai 89ers and Niigata Albirex BB was held a few months later. In January 2009 Akita Pro Basketball Club Co., Ltd. was established and in the following May was granted a licence to enter the 2010-11 bj league season. The team's name was announced at a pre-season match hosted in Akita between the 89ers and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix in September 2009. 2010-11 season The Happinets entered the Eastern Conference of the bj league in October 2010 as one of three expansion teams. The Shimane Susanoo Magic and Miyazaki Shining Suns joined the Western Conference, taking the league to a total of 16 teams. For their first season the Happinets signed Seiichi Oba as general manager and former Shiga Lakestars coach Robert Pierce as head coach. 39-year-old Akita native and Noshiro Tech alumnus Makoto Hasegawa was acquired from Niigata in exchange for a first-round draft pick and took on a player-manager role. The team drafted and Ryosuke Mizumachi in the expansion draft, in the second round of the rookie draft and Makoto Sawaguchi in the development draft. The team was unable to reach a deal with Nakanishi, who instead signed with Rizing Fukuoka before the start of the season. Happinets' inaugural home game was held at the Akita Prefectural Gymnasium in October. 2011-12 season In November 2011 the team signed