Anzai, Mitsuyoshi

安西光義

The coach of the Shohoku High basketball team, and one of the best in Japan. Even coaches from other teams address him as "Anzai-sensei" with respect. His calm and collected demeanor contrasts with the temper he displayed in the past, when he was nicknamed "White-Haired Devil" as a demanding college coach.
Ryuji Yazawa, a talented player, trained under him and was regarded highly by Anzai. However, Yazawa was unhappy with Anzai's rigorous training regimen (particularly the repetitive and strenuous basic technique drills), and against the Coach's wishes, left Japan to play in the USA, where he believed he would have better opportunities to showcase his talent. Five years passed without any news, other than an unaddressed video tape showing Yazawa playing for a team whose players had virtually no concept of teamwork. One day, Anzai learned from the press that Yazawa died in a high-speed head-on car collision, reportedly under the influence of drugs. While visiting Yazawa's grave, Yazawa's mother gave Anzai a letter written four years prior, which Yazawa never had the courage to send. In the letter, Yazawa expressed profound regret over his rebellious decision to leave, as well as the depression stemming from his experience in the unsupportive American college basketball scene. Anzai grieved deeply for the loss of Yazawa and resigned from college basketball coaching ever since. This also transformed Anzai's former strict attitude into his current mild temper, for which he is now known as the "White-Haired Buddha."
Sakuragi always calls Coach Anzai "Oyaji" (old man) and has the habit of jiggling his fat when hyped, which makes the others—Mitsui in particular—mad at him, as this is considered disrespectful. Anzai, however, appears to tolerate this and has not reprimanded Sakuragi for his behavior. However, Anzai did punish the four players (Mitsui, Miyagi, Sakuragi, and Rukawa) involved in the fight against Mitsui's gang by initially benching them during the first interhigh tournament match against Miuradai High School.
Behind such an impassive demeanor lies a brilliant strategist, who always knows how to turn the tide of a match for his team. Anzai, like Haruko Akagi, realized Sakuragi's potential early on and decided to make him a starter even though some of his basketball skills were not yet up to par. Recognizing that shooting was Sakuragi's weakness, he made him make 20,000 baskets in a week to get ready for the national tournament. Anzai is also very charismatic and able to inspire his players to greater heights, as evidenced before the match against Sannoh, where he managed to alleviate the insecurity within Miyagi, Mitsui, and, to a lesser extent, Sakuragi. Although they were directly recruited by Coach Moichi Taoka of Ryonan, both Mitsui and Ryota turned him down, citing Anzai's presence at Shohoku as the primary factor. Mitsui respects Anzai the most, and once put a picture of him on the bench and prayed to it when Anzai was unable to attend the inter-high Shohoku-Ryonan match due to a heart attack.