Dave Ryan reports…
Levett Essex Leopards’ coach Thomas Baker has continued to rebuild his roster ahead of the NBL season with the addition of forward Durrell Kelly.
The former Plymouth Raiders’ player spent last season with Leicester Warriors – helping his side to a double against the Leopards – and he is delighted to joining up with the Big Cats:
“I’m really excited to be joining the Leopards organisation” he said. “Playing against and hearing from ex players that you have an amazing community and fan base so when the coaching staff spoke with me about their vision for the programme I completely bought in!
“My main aim this season is to help build and set values for a winning culture getting back into Division One and proving we can compete on that level again.
“Looking forward to the season and bright future for the club!”
Baker is pleased with his latest addition: “Signing someone of Durrell’s quality and experience is a display of real intent by the club” he said.
“In the sessions we have had with Durrell in, he has added to the quality we have already signed and he fits in extremely well with how we want to play this season.
“As he has said, the culture we are looking to set this year is what will set us apart from the other teams in Division Two, I’m pleased that Durrell buys in to the how important this is for us to be successful.”
The Big Cats are already in training, and will open their pre-season programme with a pair of games against Team USA Select on Friday September 1 (at Oaklands) and at Brentwood two days later. There are still some places on the pre-game camp for kids at Brentwood, see www.leopardsbasketball.co.uk for details.