London City Royals have announced Will Neighbour as their first signing ahead of their debut campaign in the BBL.
The 28-year-old forward impressed in a spell with MAFC Budapest in the Hungarian top division last season, before returning to the BBL, averaging 12.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 11 games for Plymouth Raiders.
And the 6’10” Great Britain international brings immediate flexibility to the Royals squad, with his ability to shoot threes from the power forward or centre positions.
“I’m very excited to be a Royal,” said Neighbour. “Fans should expect me to work hard – and expect me to shoot the ball from 3.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do right now putting the pieces together, figuring out how we’re going to play, our identity. But once we’ve done that, once we’ve worked out a style of play we can hang our hat on, I’m sure we’re going to be a really strong team.”
Neighbour has had successful playing stints in Spain, Sweden and New Zealand since finishing an impressive college career with Little Rock in NCAA Division 1, as well as two years at Surrey Scorchers from 2015-17.
Royals’ head coach Jay Williams added: “I’ve seen Will grow for quite some time from afar.
“He’s a guy who at his height, 6’10”, he can really flat out shoot the ball. And that makes it difficult for teams to guard him, and to plan and prepare for him, because he can do so many things well.
“As a person, he’s a great guy, a great team guy who’s easy to get along with and very respectful.
“All the guys we’re signing are high character guys, they’re all guys who are no-nonsense, they handle their business and they play for each other.”
Royals are expected to make more announcements regarding their 2018-19 roster soon.