ADDITION: MOUNTAINEERS SECURE IMPORT
Three overseas arrivals to give girls added advantage
THE Toowoomba Mountaineers women have put the finishing touches on their squad for the 2014 QBL season after securing American centre LaNedra Brown.
Brown is a seasoned veteran of international basketball, having played in Israel, Luxembourg, the UK, and most recently Spain.
At 188cm, she will certainly add some height, but coach Anthony Corcoran said it was what Brown would contribute off the court that was most exciting.
Brown will also help nurture the next generation of Mountaineers as a personal basketball trainer and skills specialist.
“Number one is her height, number two is her experience, but she does a lot of stuff off the floor too,” Corcoran said.
“She’ll be a big asset for us in terms of getting more kids playing which is what we’re trying to do.
“She’s got an idea of what it to takes to develop players as well and that’s going to be our focus.
“It’s good to have import players coming in every year, but you want to have that sustainability so that our local players are getting skills and they can see the pathway.”
Brown joins fellow Americans Kisha Lee, who is set to return for her third season in Toowoomba, and Janelle Adams.
Adams played for the club as an import in 2012, but will be classed as a local player this season after gaining Australian citizenship.
Brown won’t be available until after Toowoomba’s season opener against the Gold Coast on May 3, but Corcoran said it was a huge coup to have essentially three imports in the squad.
“The preparation is difficult because they’re not all going to be here until just before we start, but we’ll work around that,” he said.
“We’ve got the first four games all at home so I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be a problem.
“We’ve got about five of the same local girls as last year. I’m pretty happy that we’ve got a bit of consistency there as well.”
Corcoran expected everyone to be sharp for their first game after working through pre-season fitness testing with men’s squad member Cameron Weber and Vision Physiology.
“That’s probably one of the things we’re doing that a lot of the other teams aren’t doing,” he said.
“We did testing last year so the girls have got a number they can compare themselves to so they can see where they are this year compared to last year.
“It’s different, but it’s positive and the feedback from the girls has been good.”