Eagles trio closing in on England spot

THREE Newcastle Eagles stars are one step closer to representing England at the Commonwealth Games.

Darius Defoe, Drew Lasker and Kai Williams all survived the first round of cuts and will attend another training camp in February.

The trio were part of a 23-man group all vying to play at the Games in Australia next year.

Last week the call-ups were put through their paces in Manchester by England head coach Andreas Kapoulas.

Now the group has been whittled down to 17, with the Newcastle trio all still in the hunt for a trip to the Gold Coast.

The February training camp will see the England selectors cut five more names to end up with a final squad of 12.

And despite facing many of the England players each week, Lasker, who turned 35 last Monday, enjoyed working with some of his BBL rivals for a change.

He said: “Most of these guys, we play each other and we know each other as competitors.

“One of the best parts of this experience was getting to know these guys away from basketball. Everyone here is a genuinely nice person, there’s been a great vibe.”

Two former Newcastle men, Orlan Jackman and Andy Thomson, have also made it through to the next stage. But another ex-Eagle, Joe Hart, failed to win round the selectors.

The 23 players all came together at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester, taking part in four on-court sessions.

And head coach Kapoulas, who also coaches BBL club Bristol Flyers, was impressed by the quality on display. He said: “The standard has been very high, the effort has been outstanding.

“The whole camp was about a first introduction to the programme leading up to the Commonwealth Games and getting to know each other.

“Guys wanted to get better through the whole process, very unselfish in the way they did things and it was a real pleasure to work with them.”

LIST FOR FEBRUARY TRAINING CAMP: Jamell Anderson (FG La Roda – SPA), Darius Defoe (Esh Newcastle Eagles), Daniel Edozie (Bristol Flyers), Zach Gachette (DBL Sheffield Sharks), Joe Ikhinmwin (London Lions), Orlan Jackman (Cheshire Phoenix), Callum Jones (Manchester Giants), Drew Lasker (Esh Newcastle Eagles), Raheem May-Thompson (Cheshire Phoenix), Omotayo Ogedengbe (Surrey Scorchers), Josh Steel (Surrey Scorchers), Andy Thomson (Leicester Riders), Adam Thoseby (Sydney Kings – AUS), Mike Tuck (DBL Sheffield Sharks), Shane Walker (Leicester Riders), Zak Wells (Plymouth Raiders), Kai Williams (Esh Newcastle Eagles).