Indian captain to hit floor for Kings on US tour

AMRITPAL Singh was raised in a village in northern India — now he is preparing to represent the Sydney Kings and the NBL on basketball’s big stage.

The 26-year-old centre will be the first Indian player in the NBL after signing a oneyear deal with the Kings.

The club has confirmed Singh will go to the US for the pre-season exhibition clash against the Utah in Salt Lake City on October 3 at the Jazz’s 19,000-seat home arena.

The 212cm Singh impressed coach Andrew Gaze initially at the NBL Draft Combine then in offseason trials, earning a contract despite only taking up the sport at 19.

He debuted for India about a year later before captaining the national team last year.

Gaze urged patience with Singh, but he expects him to contribute from early in the season.

“He’s got great athleticism, runs the floor, got good hands, got good shooting touch,” he said yesterday.

“He’s got great size. Last season, one of the major defi- ciencies we had was our rebounding.

“He rebounds the really well.”

Singh led the Kings for boards in their recent offseason tour of China, also averaging 11 points and eight rebounds at this month’s Asia Cup.

Kings boss Jeff Van Groningen was hopeful Singh’s recruitment would expose the ball club to the massive Indian market in Australia and abroad.

Gaze said Singh was recruited on ability and the decision to take him was not made lightly.

“Strip away his nationality, if this guy was Australian, how would we look at him?” Gaze said.

“There’s always risk, but I don’t think there’s any greater risk with him than with some of the other talent we were looking at.”

Singh joins big men Isaac Humphries and Dane Pineau, import Perry Ellis and veteran forward Tom Garlepp as new Kings additions.

Singh said he felt lost at his first training session with the Kings around their game plan but had quickly picked up the plays. AAP