Plymouth University Raiders have announced the double signing of Duane Bailey and Adrien Sturt. Both players arrived in Plymouth on Monday, following the release of BJ Anthony and Richie Edwards last week.
Bailey is a New Zealand International and was in England during the summer, when the New Zealand Tall Blacks played against Team GB in a one off international fixture. He recently finished playing with the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian NBL, and is someone that Coach Daryl Corletto knows very well and rates highly from his time in New Zealand. The 24 year old, 6’7″ forward has been on social media the past couple of days commenting on how much he is looking forward to getting to Plymouth and starting with his new team. He is already known to the majority of the players on the squad.
Sturt is another previously known and highly trusted teammate of Corletto. He has a lot of experience in the BBL in previous seasons with London and Cheshire. The 6’10” forward is known around the league as a good 3 point shooter, but also a tough competitor. He has been living with his family in Milton Keynes since leaving London last season, and had made it known that he was keen to play again this season.
“I’m absolutely over the moon to have got both players in, so early this week,” said Corletto. “It means we have nearly a full week together ahead of a massive game this Saturday against Worcester. They’re both guys I know will do well on this team. I mentioned last week about the new culture and values that I’m instilling here and how I took these from the Breakers teams that I played on, under Coach Andrej Lemanis. Duane is therefore very familiar with everything that we are putting in place here, and it will help him settle in quickly. We are even running some of the same sets that the Breakers run, so Duane will feel right at home as soon as he gets here. I’ve known Adrien for a very long time as well, and when we had to release the players last week, he was one of the first players I wanted to speak to. He will make some massive contributions to the squad, and has that previous BBL experience under his belt with London and Cheshire. I’m very excited to have got both players in, on the back of such a fine team performance this past weekend.”
Raiders fans will get their first chance to see both players on Saturday 14th November, when Worcester Wolves are the visitors to the Pavilions (7.15pm). Tickets are available through the Plymouth Pavilions box office (0845 146 1460) or through the Pavilions’ Website:www.plymouthpavilions.com.