Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 28) — Filipino basketball player Kai Sotto will be on loan from the Hiroshima Dragonflies to the Yokohama B-Corsairs in the Japan B.League, both teams announced on Thursday.
The 7-foot-3 Sotto has not yet played for a number of months in the B.League season while nursing a lower back injury during the offseason.
“I wanna thank the team Yokohama B-Corsairs and the organization for trusting and signing me to play for the team, despite coming off an injury,” Sotto said in the ballclub’s statement posted on Instagram.
“I’m very blessed to be given this opportunity and I will make the most out of it. I’m very excited to play for the city of Yokohama. I can’t wait to win more games and get better as a player. Go B-COR!” the 21-year-old big man added.
Yokohama B-Corsairs general manager Ken Takeda said the addition of Sotto to the team will “gain even more energy and accelerate into the mid-game and second-half games.”
Yokohama has 10 wins and 14 losses so far in the season, currently placed 19th out of 24 teams.
“We have high expectations for him, not only as an inside defense and rebounder, but also as a new option on offense,” Takeda said in a statement posted on the team’s website, as translated by Google from Japanese to English. He described Sotto as a “very promising young player.”
Edward Morris, the 39-year-old power forward who has been with Yokohama for six seasons, was then loaned to Utsunomiya Brex to accommodate Sotto.
According to B.League rules, a player “may be transferred on a loan basis to another club by written agreement between the player and the club concerned.”
The period of the time-limited transfer is from a month up to the expiration date of the player’s current contract with the former club.
In a statement, the Hiroshima Dragonflies said the agreement will be until May 31, 2024.
It also said Sotto will play for Yokohama in the B.League All-Star Game Weekend 2024 in Okinawa scheduled on Jan. 13.
