Transformation time for English
Edge’s star guard officially signs new contract, returns to being a full-time player after stint as team’s interim GM
There was no surprise when Carl English put pen to paper to sign his new playing contract with the St. John’s Edge on Monday. It had been announced some time ago that the team’s star guard and reigning National Basketball League of Canada most valuable player would be returning to lead the Edge into its second season.
But there was symbolism in the act as it may have represented the completion of his reversion to a full-time playing role.
Much of the 37-year-old’s offseason has been taken up what he described as interesting, but “mentally draining” duties as the team’s interim general manager. But now he says almost all of his focus will be getting ready for the new season, which begins in two months.
English said he expects he will continue to be consulted on player personnel issues, “but it won’t (consume) the majority of my day, not at all,” and that most of the work in that regard will be continued by the team’s ownership group and coaching staff.
And there is still work to be done.
English said he would like to see at least 15 players at the team’s training camp , which will be held in Grand Fallswindsor
in early November. That means the team will need to add a half-dozen players or more.
But English suggested preliminary work in that regard has gone well.
“There’s a lot of stuff pending. There’s a list. You have your whiteboard and you have your targets,” said English, adding the team is currently in discussions
with three unsigned players.
But he also said the team will use all of the remaining weeks between now and the start of the season in finalizing its roster
“You don’t want to rush,” he said, noting he expects there will be an “influx” of available players once teams in the NBA-G League make their final cuts.
But he likes the current core of the team, which besides himself, includes returnees Desmond Lee and Jarryn Skeete, and newcomers Junior Cadougan, Maurice Jones. Gabe Freeman, Kevin Zabo, Drew Cushingberry and Satnam Singh. The latter three are new to NBL Canada, but Cadougan (a former Canadian national team player), Jones (the 2017 NBL Canada rookie of the year) and Freeman (the 2012 league MVP) are established stars in the circuit.
Nevertheless, it will probably be the 7-2, 290-pound Singh, who will draw the most attention as the team gets ready for its sophomore season.
When asked if there had been any measuring of beds at Riverfront Chalets, where the team will reside during training camp, to determine if there is one that will suit Singh, a former second-round draft pick of the NBA’S Dallas Mavericks.
“He’s probably dealt with that for a long time. He (probably) can curl up just like a lot of us,” ,” said the 6-5 English about Singh, whom he described as an “intriguing prospect.
“I’ll tell you what. He’s not going to sleep in a cot. And he will definitely be a guy who needs an exit row on the plane.”