While without a club, it was a conversation with GB team-mate and good friend, Flinder Boyd, that started new Riders signing, Drew Sullivan, thinking about joining the Leicester Riders:

“We (Drew and Flinder) had a casual conversation about what was going on at the Tigers and he (Flinder) was the one who spoke to people at Leicester and within two days of him speaking to them, they enquired about my availability.” said the new signing.

Coach Paternostro confirms that story to be true and explained: “Flinder and Drew are good friends and spoke. Flinder let him know that this is a nice place to play. Most people who have played here in the past would tell you that this is a good place to play.”

From that point on, it was just a matter of talking:

“We spoke to Drew and talked to him the last couple of weeks and he expressed an interest in coming down and working out with us. He's enjoyed working with our team and can see the potential here. He's been a nice addition.” said Paternostro.

The terms of Sullivan's contract are not known but what is known is that at present, the versatile forward is on a week-to-week contract with a view to a permanent move. How can a permanent move be arranged? With a little help from the people of Leicester...

“We're working with some people within the Leicester business community on the possibilities of having the Great Britain captain in our city in an Olympic year.” advised the Riders coach.

Finances are clearly an important part of the deal but for Sullivan, the need to play in his home country in the run-up to the Olympics can not be overstated as Drew himself said “It's hugely important to stay in the BBL leading up to the Olympics. Right now we have four GB players in the league which is important.”

It is unusual for a player of Sullivan's calibre to be willing to stay in his country of birth when there is the inevitable temptation to play overseas but when asked about it, Sullivan just confirms his desire to stay in Britain:

“Obviously there's the lure of contracts from Europe but hopefully, something can be done where the week to week becomes a permanent thing.”

Sullivan has stated he is unsure if there were any other offers from anyone else in the BBL but when a player like Drew is available, it would be hard to believe that there was not.

“When you get a guy with his skills and his resume, he instantly makes you better and immediately allows you to play different ways because he's versatile and can play many different positions.” enthused Coach P before adding “What we have done is been aggressive and so far it looks promising.”

'Promising' is an understatement from Coach Paternostro but that is maybe to be expected from a man who never makes predictions. Sullivan, on the other hand, is happy to express his desires to win and win big with his new team:

“Short term, I'm looking to win games. I've got a record in the BBL for winning silverware which I don't want coming to an end. That is my goal and hopefully that will be the team goal as well.”

Basketball is a team sport and for the Leicester Riders, their team just added a third GB international. So as well as being an incredibly talented team, they've just become an extremely dangerous team as well.

The Leicester Riders face the London Leopards at the John Sandford Sports Centre on Saturday 15th October at 7:30pm before travelling to play the Jets in Cheshire. Tip-off is at 5:30pm.

Follow the Leicester Riders Twitter account for all the latest news @ridersbball

Keith Firmin is a freelance journalist who reports for the Leicester Riders and can be contacted at: Keith@leicesterriders.co.uk