30/08/2005
Brown snaps up Huntley for new campaign

DMU Leicester Riders Head Coach Karl Brown has announced his first new signing for the 2005/06 season with the capture of Ryan Huntley.

The 28-year-old guard will be entering his fifth season in the BBL after successful spells with Scottish Rocks, Chester Jets and Brighton Bears.

"Ryan Huntley is one of the best guards in the league so it's great for the club to secure the signing of a player of his calibre," said Coach Brown. "As well as being tremendously talented, he's got a great work ethic which is very important for me.

"Ryan is a proven quality player in the BBL and I think he can help take this club where it wants to go."

Huntley first came to Britain in 2001 when he joined the Scottish Rocks and was influential in helping the club to it's first ever major title when they won the Play-offs in 2003.

In 2003/04 he joined Chester Jets where he helped to guide them BBL Trophy glory and last season he scored 22 points in the BBL Cup Final as his Brighton Bears claimed the silverware.

Last term he was ranked second in the BBL for assists with an average of 6.4 per game, whilst also chipping in with 12 points and 5.5 rebounds a contest.

Brown is expecting to announce further big name signings this week as he continues his preparations for the new season which tip-offs at the end of September.

Riders' first game of the forthcoming campaign will be against one of Huntley's former clubs as they play host to Scottish Rocks on Saturday 24th September at John Sandford Sports Centre.

13/08/2005
Rocks first up for Riders

DMU Leicester Riders will begin the 2005-06 campaign with the visit of last season's Cup Finalists Scottish Rocks. The Rocks will visit John Sandford Sports Centre on the opening Saturday of the season - 24 September.

In a difficult start, Riders will host league champions Chester Jets in their second encounter of the season, also at JSSC, a week later. The Jets game will mark a return to Leicester for former captain Billy Singleton who took over as coach of Chester this summer.

All of Riders home games will take place on a Saturday night with a 7.30pm tip-off time concluding with league new-boys Guildford Heat on 8 April 2006.

Guildford also provide Riders opposition in the opening round of the BBL Cup, as Leicester travel to the Spectrum on Sunday 2 October (3.00pm). The Cup draw was seeded based on last season's league position and the prize for the winner of the Heat-Riders game is a daunting trip to last year's Play-off and Trophy winners, Newcastle Eagles.

Riders fans will be delighted to know that the format of the Trophy has changed slightly this season, with Riders finally avoiding the Jets and Sheffield in the opening stages. The 11 BBL sides have been joined by 4 invited EBL teams, with the 15 teams split into three regionalised groups.

Riders are in the midland pool, alongside Birmingham, London, Milton Keynes and EBL side Essex & Herts Leopards. Teams will play each other once with the three group winners progressing to the semi-finals along with the second-place team with the best record.

13/08/2005
Riders sign major deal with DMU

Basketball team the Leicester Riders have signed a sponsorship deal with DMU and will now be known as the De Montfort University Leicester Riders.

The club has strengthened its ties with the University, where the team now plays its home fixtures at the John Stanford Sports Centre. The deal for naming rights will apply to the next three seasons beginning in September 2005.

The Riders were forced to play their home matches at Loughborough University when the club’s former home at Granby Halls was closed in 1997, as there was no other suitable venue in the city and the team struggled to draw on their traditional fan base.

Last year DMU offered the University’s sports facilities as a venue and refurbished the courts to make them more suitable, to re-establish the club’s original base in Leicester and bring basketball back to the city.

The Riders hope to ultimately make their permanent home at DMU’s proposed new sports arena, which is planned to be built adjacent to the John Sandford site, but it is still in the early stages of development.

Leicester Riders Director Mike Steptoe, said: “We are extremely grateful to De Montfort University who have been, and continue to be, extremely supportive of the club. After a slow start the Riders won six of their last seven home games at John Sandford last season in front of good crowds.

“The renaming of the team should enhance the profile of both the University and the basketball club and will be great for Leicester.

“The closer relationship with DMU will also enhance the community development programme we run through Leicestershire schools, where we work with local universities to help motivate young people to consider higher education as a possibility.”

As part of the new partnership it is hoped there will be scope for DMU students to undertake projects focusing on The Riders. For example marketing students could look at methods of increasing ticket sales for the Riders, fashion design students could be design a new team kit and students studying internet computing could develop a section on the website and investigate the pros and cons of on-line ticket purchasing and secure ways of achieving this.

Stephen Robinson, Head of Recreation at DMU, said: “We are really pleased to be associated with the new name of the Leicester Riders, which is one of the city’s best known sports clubs.

“We also welcome the close relationship De Montfort has with the team, as the Riders enhance the student experience, through spectator opportunities and close ties with student basketball teams.”