28/08/2002
Riders at Tigers for opening fixture

The new look Riders will travel to Bracknell for their opening encounter of the BBL season it was revealed today. Leicester's opening encounter is actually on the second day of the season, Sunday 6 October.

Riders will be hoping to get off to a flyer but the omens are not good. Last season's defeat on opening day was Riders sixth consecutive and they couldn't find a more unfriendly venue than Bracknell to try and end that run. Riders have won just once - 103-108 in March 2001 - in 17 years at Thames Valley.

The first home game of the season sees the BBL's only European representatives, Birmingham, make the short trip to Loughborough on Sunday 13 October.

Riders follow those two games up with a trip to Sheffield and the visit of Chester, both in the trophy, over the next two weekends.

The season is scheduled to finish with a Towers and Leopards coming to Loughborough in the final week, before the campaign ends in Scotland on Sunday 6 April.

12/08/2002
Sims the man to drive Riders

Billy Mims has completed the non-national contingent of his roster with the signing of Antoine Sims. The 5'10" point guard joins the Riders straight from Johnson C Smith University (JCSU), where for the last two seasons he has played against new Riders' team-mate Derick Singleton.

In his first season at JCSU he led the team to it's first ever CIAA Championship and to the 'Elite Eight' - NCAA Division II National quarter-finals - in the best ever season in the school's history. During the success Sims was named Most Valuable Player in the Championship tournament and selected to the Elite Eight 1st team.

"He's a big game player with big game mentality," said Mims. "He's proven that in front of big crowds where silverware was at stake. He can go out and get the job done and help his team win that silverware. That's our goal every season to try and win some silverware and repeat our success of 2001. We want players that come from winning backgrounds and know how to win in big games.

"His three-point shooting ability is second to none. As a Junior he made 87 three-pointers in 32 games and then in 31 games as a Senior he made 110 three pointers. I hope the trend continues, as it appears he is getting better at making them. We hope he'll be on a continual rise. For certain, behind the arc he is a huge threat to score."

In Conference play last season Sims averaged 24.4 points per game and was runner-up in the Player of the Year voting to Ronald Murray who was drafted by NBA side Milwaukee Bucks this summer. In all competitions Sims was third in the Conference in steals (2.7spg), fourth in scoring (21.9), whilst ranking eighth in three-point shooting (39.4%).

"At 5'10" he's a strong, tough player, but also he's a very quick player which will make him a real key in the run-and-gun system we have," admitted Mims. "To be able to score a lot of points, as we want to, you need guys to shoot the three, guys to put up big numbers and guys that get us from Point A to Point B very quickly. Antoine Sims can get it from Point A to Point B as quick as any guy I've seen. He will be the spark plug to the Riders' transition game.

"Although he can score big points in big games, he can play on both ends of the floor and that's important because I don't think the Leicester Riders had one single player last season that played consistently on both ends of the floor. He's got quick hands and is one of those guys - you know my favourite quote - that will probably not get caught with his hands in the cookie jar, because he's quick enough to get in before momma puts the lid down!"

Prior to transferring to JCSU, Sims was voted Athlete of the Year in consecutive seasons at Alfred State Technical College and was named in the Junior College All-American 1st Team twice. Sims joins Singleton, Malcolm Leak, Jamal Faulkner, Mo Robinson, Bryan Balser and Guy Renton on the Riders roster.

06/08/2002
New Singleton era for Riders

Billy Mims has inked a seventh name on his Nurishment Leicester Riders roster with the capture of Derick Singleton. The 6'9" forward joins Riders already towering line-up for the forthcoming 2002/03 season.

Singleton joins Riders after starring as a four-year starter at St Paul's University in NCAA Division II. Playing in the conference from which Mims signed Tim Davis whilst at DG London Leopards Kool Kats and former Riders' guard Larry Johnson, Singleton was named CIAA Conference Player of the Year in his Junior season.

"Derick fits our style very well," said Mims. "He's one of the fastest forwards I've ever coached so speed is certainly an asset of his, as is size - at 6'9" he gives us another very tall frontline player with long arms and great shot blocking capabilities, which is something we've not had at Leicester in my tenure.

"We think our fans know that our goal is to score 100 points every night and we'd like to lead the league in scoring. To do that you've got to be a good defensive team and a good rebounding team and you certainly have to be a good running team and I think Derick Singleton fits those categories well for the Riders."

Mims was first alerted to Singleton's talents by ex-Rider Purnell Perry and has tracked his career for two seasons before snapping him up after a trial in Virginia, USA. Mims is hoping his new signing will be as popular with the supporters as Perry.

"He's the kind of player who is so fast he can get out ahead of the guards and he finishes very well," noted Mims. "With a vertical jump of over 40 inches he's a tremendous athlete so I'm sure whether he scores a lot of points on a night or just a few points they are all going to be exciting points.

"He is extremely athletic and we haven't really had an exciting dunker since Purnell. I think he is going to fill that role of the exciting athlete who finishes in transition very well for us and hopefully he will do a good job shot blocking for us which will ignite our break."

Last season Singleton averaged 15.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, whilst leading his team in blocked shots and three point shooting. He was selected for the Conference's 1st team, ranking him in the top five players for the second straight year.

Mims is now in extended talks with a point guard to fill his final non-national slot and is hopeful of completing a signing soon.

It has been reported that Italian Lega 2 side Rida Scafati are considering signing Billy Singleton, who obtained a British passport earlier this year.