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 26/11/2003
Brown the man to lead
Riders
The Leicester Riders
have today appointed
Karl Brown as head coach
for the remainder of the
2003/04 season.
Brown, 36, makes his
coaching debut this
Sunday (30th November,
6.00pm) at Loughborough
University as the Riders
take on local rivals
Birmingham Monroe Reflex
Bullets.
The
Leicester-born guard has
been one of the county's
most successful
basketball players ever,
having appeared in 10
major domestic finals
and being named Most
Valuable Player in two
of them, including in
the 1992 Trophy Final
whilst playing for the
Riders.
Internationally, Brown
represented England over
50 times and also played
for Great Britain on 27
occasions. He was also
the first Englishman to
appear in America's NCAA
Final Four whilst at
Georgia Tech University.
"Karl
has a passion for the
game and for the club,"
said Chairman Professor
Jim Saker. "He is a
Rider through and
through and has a vision
to help take the club
forward both at the
senior level and through
development programmes."
In
2001, Brown played a
vital part in helping
the Riders to their
first ever major title
when his free throw in
the dying seconds
secured an 84-82 success
in the Cup Final. He
also played a
significant role in the
play-off run which
eventually led to Riders
claiming success at
Wembley, although his
appearance in the Final
was cut short by a
serious knee injury.
As
well as the Riders,
Brown has played for
London Towers, Leopards,
Guildford and briefly
for Pallacanestro
Gorizia in Italy.
Brown
has accepted a part-time
contract with the
Riders, to allow him to
continue his
developmental work in
the Leicester area
through the Leicester
City Council's
Pathfinders project.
The
club will be looking to
consolidate its coaching
structure over the
coming days.
17/11/2003
Riders part company with
Mims
The Board of the
Leicester Riders
basketball club wish to
announce that Billy Mims
has stepped down as head
coach of the team.
Assistant coach Jon
James will take
caretaker control of the
team.
The
Riders would like to
express sincere thanks
to Billy Mims and his
wife Lynne for their
contribution to the club
and wider sporting
community of
Leicestershire during
their four years with
the club.
Mims
became the first coach
in the club's history to
lead the team to
silverware when they
completed the Cup and
Play-off double in 2001.
Last
season, however, was
financially the worst in
the club's history and
has been followed by a
disappointing start to
the 2003/04 season. It
had been hoped by club
owner Kevin Routledge
that with a newly
recruited team Mims
would be able to turn
around the results, but
this has not taken
place.
The
Board acknowledges the
difficulties Mims faced
at the start of the
season in terms of
preparation, but does
not feel that, following
on from last season, the
situation can be
justified after ten
games without a win this
season.
"The
club would like to thank
Billy Mims for his work
for the Riders since
joining them in 1999 and
wish him well in the
future," said Chairman
Professor Jim Saker.
The
new Board has spent the
first two months of
their tenure looking at
all the different
aspects of the club from
the financial structure
through to the coaching,
as they seek to secure a
certain future for the
club during this
difficult period. There
will be a number of
actions taken over the
next few weeks to
restructure how things
are done.
The
recruitment of a coach
will take place over the
next few days, with an
ambition to have a
replacement in time for
the trip to Newcastle
Eagles on Friday.
05/11/2003
Purnell Perry
Further to the statement
made prior to the game
against Newcastle Eagles
on Saturday, Leicester
Riders can confirm that
Purnell Perry has left
the club to take up a
lucrative offer to play
in South Korea.
Whilst the club is
disappointed to lose the
services of Perry, it
recognises the fact that
given the short nature
of a basketball career
and Perry's family
commitments, he had
little option but to
accept the offer that
was made to him.
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