Larry Ik Evbade-Dan is a Japanese middle blocker for Osaka Bluteon and the Japan men’s national volleyball team. At 195 cm with a 350 cm maximum reach, he has developed into a high-level quick attacker and blocker whose effectiveness is built as much on timing and disguise as on physical power. Evbade-Dan has described the ability to appear late in an opponent’s field of vision as one of the qualities he likes about playing middle blocker, an idea that fits his compact approach and the speed with which he enters quick-attack patterns.
His career has moved steadily from university volleyball into a significant role for both club and country. He entered Japan’s senior national-team system in 2022, earned a place in the group that won VNL bronze in 2023, and later travelled with the national team as a support member after missing the Paris 2024 Olympic roster. At club level, he was named to the 2024–25 SV.League Best 6, won the 2025–26 championship with Osaka and renewed his contract for 2026–27. In September 2026, he was part of the Japanese team that won the Asian Championship and secured the country’s place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Player Information
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Larry Ik Evbade-Dan |
| Japanese Name | エバデダン ラリー アイケー |
| Date of Birth | August 18, 2000 |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Born | Kaizu, Gifu, Japan |
| High School | Matsumoto International High School |
| University | University of Tsukuba |
| Position | Middle Blocker |
| Height | 195 cm |
| Weight | 90 kg |
| Maximum Reach | 350 cm |
| Block Jump Reach | 333 cm |
| Standing Reach | 253 cm |
| Dominant Hand | Right |
| Previous Club Name | Panasonic Panthers — the same organization later renamed Osaka Bluteon |
| Current Club | Osaka Bluteon |
| Club Number | 23 |
| National Team | Japan Men’s National Volleyball Team |
| National-Team Number | 23 |
Osaka’s current player profile lists Evbade-Dan at 195 cm and 90 kg, with a 350 cm maximum reach, 253 cm standing reach and right-handed dominance. Monthly Volleyball’s 2026 Japan profile gives his block-jump reach as 333 cm. The 90 kg figure is used here rather than the 85–86 kg figures found in older 2022 records because it comes from his current club profile.
Early Life & Volleyball Beginnings
Evbade-Dan was born in Kaizu City, Gifu Prefecture. His father is Nigerian and his mother is Japanese, and volleyball entered his life through his older brother. He began playing in the fourth grade of elementary school after following his brother into a club. Volleyball was not initially an obvious career choice: he had also played baseball and later recalled that, as a child, he was not thinking seriously about becoming a professional athlete.
His physical development changed the possibilities available to him. Evbade-Dan grew rapidly during junior high school, approaching 190 cm by his third year, and was selected for the Junior Olympic Cup competition. Height alone did not define him. Even at that stage, his ability to move a large frame with speed and power made him an unusual prospect, although he has said that he did not yet share the confidence that others had in his potential.
He followed his brother to Sozo Gakuen High School in Nagano, the school now known as Matsumoto International High School. Evbade-Dan appeared at the national Spring High School tournament in three consecutive years. By then, his combination of reach and mobility had placed him firmly on the pathway toward elite volleyball, even if his own relationship with the sport was still developing.
The University of Tsukuba became a particularly important stage. Evbade-Dan has explained that the logical, detailed approach to volleyball he encountered there helped the game make more sense to him. His performances eventually attracted attention beyond university competition, and during his third year Panasonic Panthers offered him the chance to join the V.League team while he was still a student.
Club Career
Breaking into the V.League While Still at University
Evbade-Dan’s introduction to elite club volleyball came through an unusual arrangement. In January 2022, Panasonic Panthers added both Evbade-Dan, then a third-year University of Tsukuba student, and Waseda University outside hitter Tatsunori Otsuka to its V.League roster for the remainder of the season. Panasonic described the move as the first time the club had brought in active university players who were not simply fourth-year students waiting to graduate.
Evbade-Dan made his V.League debut on January 16, 2022 against Oita Miyoshi Weisse Adler. The short student stint gave him direct exposure to the speed, physicality and tactical demands of Japan’s top professional level while he was still completing his university career. Panasonic later credited both Evbade-Dan and Otsuka with contributing to the club’s third-place finish that season.
After returning to university activity, Evbade-Dan formally rejoined Panasonic for the 2022–23 season. From there he developed from an unusually early university recruit into a regular member of one of Japan’s strongest club programs. The organization retained him through subsequent seasons, and he continued with the club when Panasonic Panthers became Osaka Bluteon in 2024.
Establishing Himself with Osaka Bluteon
The first SV.League season in 2024–25 marked a major step in Evbade-Dan’s club career. Across the season he recorded 320 points, including 213 attack points, 94 blocks and 13 aces, with a 60.2% attack success rate. His regular-season blocking total reached 91, or 0.57 per set. He was subsequently selected as one of the league’s Best 6 middle blockers.
Osaka also reached the final of the 2025 AVC Men’s Champions League. The club finished runner-up to Al-Rayyan, but Evbade-Dan’s tournament ended with an individual distinction: the Asian Volleyball Confederation selected him as one of the two Best Middle Blockers on its Dream Team.
His workload remained substantial in 2025–26. Evbade-Dan appeared in 49 SV.League matches and 158 sets, producing 337 points. Of those, 244 came in attack, 73 from blocks and 20 from serves, while his attack success rate was 57.7%. Those numbers are especially useful for understanding his role: he was not simply a rotation middle used for occasional quick attacks, but a regular scoring component of a championship-level team.
The season ended with Osaka winning the SV.League championship. After losing the opening match of the best-of-three final against Suntory Sunbirds Osaka, Osaka won Game 2 in five sets and then swept Game 3. Evbade-Dan contributed a block in the deciding fifth set of Game 2 and scored through the quick attack late in the championship-clinching third set of Game 3. The title was Osaka’s first league championship in seven seasons.
That domestic title followed another international club milestone. At the 2025 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship, Osaka reached the final and became the first Japanese men’s club to finish runner-up at the tournament. Evbade-Dan scored 28 points across the event, including 10 in the final against Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia.
Osaka renewed his contract again in June 2026. The announcement retained him as No. 23 for the 2026–27 season, with Evbade-Dan saying that winning the previous championship made him want to return with an even more humble and powerful approach.
Club Career Timeline
| Seasons | Team | Country |
|---|---|---|
| January–April 2022 | Panasonic Panthers — temporary university-season addition | Japan |
| 2022–23 to 2023–24 | Panasonic Panthers | Japan |
| 2024–present | Osaka Bluteon | Japan |
Panasonic Panthers and Osaka Bluteon are not separate transfers in Evbade-Dan’s career. The organization changed its team identity to Osaka Bluteon in 2024, so the timeline reflects the club’s name change rather than a move to a different organization.
National Team Career
Evbade-Dan entered Japan’s senior national-team system in 2022 while still at the University of Tsukuba. The JVA’s 2022 registration listed him as a first-time selection at middle blocker, standing 195 cm with a 350 cm maximum reach. His early international opportunities included Japan’s broader senior and development groups at a time when the country already had established middles ahead of him in the depth chart.
By 2023 he was part of a Japanese national-team season that produced one of the country’s important modern results. Japan finished third in the Volleyball Nations League, defeating world champion Italy in five sets in the bronze-medal match. Evbade-Dan was on Japan’s VNL roster, although his role was still limited compared with the established middle rotation.
The Olympic Qualification Tournament later that year gave him a different kind of responsibility. When Kentaro Takahashi was injured, Evbade-Dan appeared against the United States during the qualification campaign. Japan ultimately secured its place at the Paris Olympics. The experience put him closer to the senior core, but it did not guarantee an Olympic roster place.
Evbade-Dan was left out of Japan’s final Paris 2024 Olympic squad. He nevertheless travelled with the team as a support member and remained with the group through the tournament. The setback became relevant to his later development because his position within Japan changed substantially over the following two seasons. In a February 2026 Sportiva interview, he spoke more openly about accepting responsibility and stated his ambition to become a defining Japanese middle blocker rather than treating national-team selection as something uncertain or temporary.
That changing role was visible in the 2026 VNL. Evbade-Dan played with No. 23 and finished the competition with 91 points: 66 in attack, 22 from blocks and three from serves. His 22 block points were particularly significant for a Japanese team looking to maintain its speed while adding more direct net pressure. Japan reached the medal round before finishing fourth.
The 2026 Asian Championship in Fukuoka then produced the largest team achievement of his national-team career to that point. Evbade-Dan was part of Japan’s tournament squad as the team progressed to the final against Iran. Japan won the championship match 3–0, taking the title 25–21, 26–24, 25–23. The victory made Japan Asian champion for the 11th time and secured an automatic berth at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The tournament also showed a more confident version of Evbade-Dan. In a September 2026 Sportiva feature during the Asian Championship, his role was described through both blocking and decoy work. Against Oman he produced important blocks, while against Bahrain the speed of his first step and jump helped pull opposing blockers toward him even when he was not the eventual attacker. That capacity to influence a rally without receiving the set is central to his value as a middle.
Playing Style & Strengths
Evbade-Dan’s game starts with speed. Osaka lists the quick attack as his preferred play, and that description matches the way he has developed professionally. Rather than relying only on a 195 cm frame and 350 cm reach, he tries to make his approach difficult for opposing blockers to read. His timing allows him to arrive quickly in front of the setter and create pressure before the defense has fully identified the attacking option.
He has described this understated quality as something he actively likes about playing middle blocker. In his Sportiva interview, Evbade-Dan recalled being told by setter Hideomi Fukatsu that his approach could be difficult to see until he suddenly appeared as an attacking option. For a middle, that is more than an aesthetic trait. A quick attacker who is late for the opponent to recognize can occupy the middle blocker and create cleaner one-on-one situations for the outside or opposite even when the ball never goes to the middle.
His 2026 Asian Championship performances showed the same effect from a tactical perspective. The explosive first movement into his jump could draw blockers toward the center of the net and function as a decoy for Japan’s wing attackers. When the set did come to him, the same speed made the quick difficult to close.
Blocking has become the other major part of his profile. In the 2024–25 SV.League season he recorded 94 blocks in all phases of the competition, then added 73 in 2025–26. At international level, his 22 block points in the 2026 VNL accounted for almost a quarter of his total scoring. Those numbers support the idea that Evbade-Dan is increasingly capable of producing direct points at the net rather than merely slowing attacks for the defense behind him.
His connection with setters has also shaped his attacking efficiency. During the 2025–26 season, Evbade-Dan credited Antoine Brizard heavily for the quality of Osaka’s quick attack and described the middle as a weapon for the setter. His final 57.7% attack success rate over 423 attempts shows that the relationship produced sustained efficiency over a full club season rather than only short stretches of high-percentage offense.
The result is a middle blocker whose impact is not always captured by point totals. His best sequences combine a fast approach, quick attacking, blocker manipulation and direct blocking. As his national-team responsibility has grown, those skills have allowed Japan to use him without abandoning the speed and multi-option offense that defines much of its attacking structure.
Major Achievements
Selected National Team Honors
| Year | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Volleyball Nations League | Bronze medal with Japan |
| 2023 | Olympic Qualification Tournament | Japan secured qualification for Paris 2024 |
| 2026 | AVC Men’s Continental Championship | Gold medal with Japan; qualification for Los Angeles 2028 |
The 2026 Asian title was especially significant because the continental championship carried a direct Olympic berth. Japan’s victory over Iran made it the first men’s team other than host United States to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 volleyball tournament.
Selected Club Honors
| Season / Year | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | SV.League Regular Season | 1st place with Osaka Bluteon |
| 2025 | AVC Men’s Champions League | Runner-up with Osaka Bluteon |
| 2025 | FIVB Men’s Club World Championship | Runner-up with Osaka Bluteon |
| 2025–26 | SV.League Championship | Champion with Osaka Bluteon |
The Club World Championship result gave Osaka another place in Japanese volleyball history. The team became the first Japanese men’s club to reach the tournament final before finishing second to Perugia.
Selected Individual Awards
| Year / Season | Competition | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | SV.League Regular Season | Best 6 — Middle Blocker |
| 2025 | AVC Men’s Champions League | Best Middle Blocker |
Evbade-Dan’s 2025 continental award came after Osaka’s run to the AVC Champions League final. The official Dream Team paired him with Al-Rayyan’s Pape Machette Diagne as the tournament’s two Best Middle Blockers.
Personal Life & Interests
Evbade-Dan was born in Japan to a Nigerian father and Japanese mother. His older brother was the immediate reason he entered volleyball, and he followed him into the sport while still in elementary school. The influence continued into his school choices, with Evbade-Dan eventually moving from Gifu to Nagano to attend the same high-school program.
His public personality contrasts with the physical impression created by his size and distinctive hairstyle. Osaka’s player profile describes him as “cool,” while Evbade-Dan has spoken in interviews about not naturally seeing himself as an intensely demonstrative athlete. Rather than trying to imitate more outwardly fiery teammates, he has increasingly framed that temperament as something he can use in his own way on court.
Away from competition, Osaka lists music as one of his hobbies, with Evbade-Dan saying that he listens across a broad range of genres and uses music as part of his pre-match routine. His favorite color is blue, he lists rice as a favorite food and says he can cook braised pork. His stated motto is “Be yourself,” while the person he names as someone he respects is his father.
Where Is Larry Ik Evbade-Dan Playing Now?
As of September 2026, Evbade-Dan remains a middle blocker for Osaka Bluteon in Japan’s SV.League. Osaka renewed his contract on June 4 for the 2026–27 season, and the club’s September roster continues to list him as No. 23. He enters the new season after helping Osaka win the 2025–26 league championship and reach the previous Club World Championship final.
He is also an active member of the Japan men’s national team. Evbade-Dan wore No. 23 throughout the 2026 VNL and was part of the squad that won the Asian Championship on September 13. That continental title secured Japan’s Los Angeles 2028 Olympic berth, putting Evbade-Dan in a markedly different position from 2024, when he missed the final Paris roster and travelled only as a support member.
Recent Performance Snapshot
| Competition | Performance |
|---|---|
| 2025–26 SV.League | 49 matches, 158 sets, 337 points, 244 attack points, 73 blocks, 20 aces, 57.7% attack success |
| 2025 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship | 28 points: 22 attacks, 4 blocks and 2 aces; Osaka finished runner-up |
| 2026 Volleyball Nations League | 91 points: 66 attacks, 22 blocks and 3 aces |
| 2026 AVC Men’s Continental Championship | Asian champion with Japan; LA28 Olympic qualification secured |
The progression from club season to international summer is significant. Evbade-Dan completed a championship-winning domestic campaign with a large middle-blocker workload, then carried a meaningful scoring role into the VNL rather than returning to the margins of Japan’s rotation. His 91 VNL points and 22 blocks provide a clearer indication of an established senior role than his early national-team appearances did.
By September, the Asian Championship added the team result that mattered most. Japan’s title removed the immediate pressure of Olympic qualification two years before Los Angeles, while Evbade-Dan finished the 2026 international season as part of the core that achieved it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How tall is Larry Evbade-Dan?
Larry Ik Evbade-Dan is 195 cm tall. Osaka Bluteon lists his maximum reach at 350 cm and standing reach at 253 cm, while his 2026 Japanese national-team profile lists a 333 cm block-jump reach.
What position does Larry Evbade-Dan play?
Evbade-Dan is a middle blocker. Quick attacking is the specialty identified on his Osaka Bluteon profile, while blocking has become an increasingly important source of points in both SV.League and international competition.
Which club does Larry Evbade-Dan play for?
Evbade-Dan plays for Osaka Bluteon in Japan’s SV.League and wears No. 23. His contract was renewed for the 2026–27 season in June 2026.
Does Larry Evbade-Dan play for Japan?
Yes. Evbade-Dan has been part of Japan’s senior national-team program since 2022 and wore No. 23 during the 2026 VNL and Asian Championship season. He was part of the team that won the 2026 Asian title.
Did Larry Evbade-Dan play at the Paris 2024 Olympics?
Evbade-Dan did not make Japan’s final competition roster for Paris 2024. He travelled to Paris as a support member and remained with the national team during the Olympic tournament.
Has Larry Evbade-Dan qualified for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics?
Japan secured qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games by winning the 2026 Asian Championship, with Evbade-Dan part of the championship squad. Qualification belongs to the national team rather than guaranteeing an individual player’s future Olympic roster place.
References
- Osaka Bluteon — Larry Ik Evbade-Dan official player profile
- Panasonic Newsroom — Panasonic Panthers add university players Tatsunori Otsuka and Larry Evbade-Dan
- Sportiva — Larry Evbade-Dan on his middle-blocker identity and ambition to become a face of Japanese volleyball
- SV.League — Larry Ik Evbade-Dan official player records
- SV.League — 2024–25 SV.League Men regular-season awards
- Asian Volleyball Confederation — 2025 AVC Men’s Champions League final and Dream Team
- Osaka Bluteon — 2025 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship results
- Osaka Bluteon — Larry Ik Evbade-Dan 2026–27 contract renewal
- Volleyball World — VNL 2023 men’s final standings
- Volleyball World — Larry Ik Evbade-Dan VNL 2026 player profile and statistics
- Japan Volleyball Association — 2026 AVC Men’s Continental Championship results
- FIVB — Japan win the 2026 Asian Championship and secure the LA28 Olympic berth