Riders captain signs up for fourth straight term
LEICESTER Riders captain Darien Nelson-Henry has put pen to paper and will return to Riders for the 2022/23 BBL season.
The American centre will be joining for his fourth straight season with the club, having signed up originally early in the Covid truncated 2019/20 season.
Under Nelson-Henry’s leadership Riders have won the BBL Championship two season in a row, gaining him a place on the BBL All Star team for two seasons in succession.
Nelson-Henry formed a particularly deadly partnership with twotime BBL MVP point guard Geno Crandall.
With his customary efficiency, Nelson-Henry led the BBL in field goal percentage at 64 per cent and was also top five in free-throw percentage at 76 per cent, on his way to an average of 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and one block per game, the latter also placing him fourth among all players.
He averaged an index rating of 28.8, ranking second in the league.
Nelson-Henry had a season-high of 23 points in a February victory over Manchester and opened the play-offs with a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards against Plymouth City Patriots.
Nelson-Henry said: “I am extremely excited to be back for another season with Riders.
“After all the success we had last season, we’re obviously trying to carry it over. On top of that, we hope to have a European campaign to look forward to.
“Hopefully, the success we had last season can be repeated. It looks like we are managing to keep a lot of the squad together which is fantastic, as we had phenomenal chemistry last season.
“I am looking forward to another great season, with great people surrounding the club yet again.”
Riders head coach Rob Paternostro is delighted to have his big man back. He said: “Darien has been a great player and leader for us both on and off the court.
“He is a very skilled, high-IQ player who does a great job of scoring from the post or the pick and roll.
“He is also a tremendous passer who does a very good job of finding the open man.”
The signing means Riders will now return five of last season’s treble winning team.
NELSON-HENRY LOOKS AHEAD TO ‘ANOTHER
GREAT SEASON’