Young gun Ndoukou is put on Riders’ roster for new season
COACH PATERNOSTRO SAYS LOUGHBOROUGH COLLEGE STUDENT, 18, HAS GREAT POTENTIAL
YOUNG British forward Victor Ndoukou has been named in the Leicester Riders roster for the 202122 BBL season.
Loughborough College student Ndoukou, 18, will also represent Charnwood and Loughborough Riders following his appearances last season.
Born in Wigan, and standing at 6ft 8in, Ndoukou has represented GB at Under-16 level.
“I’m excited to be part of the Riders roster again this season,” said Ndoukou.
“Being able to compete with professional players every day will help my development.
“I am really looking to push on and take my opportunities when they come.”
Riders head coach Rob Paternostro thinks Ndoukou has great potential.
“Victor is a very talented young player with good size and the ability to play inside and out,” he said.
“Competing against professionals every day last season was really beneficial to his game, and we believe that he is a player that can do great things in the future.“
Ndoukou is among a dozen signings by the Riders, with a host of players returning next season, including Americans Geno Crandall, Zach Jackson, William Lee and captain Darien Nelson-Henry, GB guard Conner Washington, Canadian centre Mo Walker, and British guards Justin Hedley and Greg Wild.
New signings include British shooting guard Patrick Whelan, Canadian combo guard Kimbal Mackenzie and American-British power forward Jubril Adekoya.
LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning head coach Sara Francis-Bayman will join Scottish Thistles’ coaching team as it steps up its preparation for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, writes Dan Trussell.
Francis-Bayman, left, will bring expertise and passion to head coach Tamsin Greenway’s backroom team in her new role as assistant coach, while also continuing her duties at Lightning.
Francis-Bayman is no stranger to the Scotland side as she played alongside many of the Thistles athletes as a Strathclyde Siren player in the 2018 Vitality Netball Superleague season.
After retiring at the end of that season, she was appointed as head coach at Loughborough Lightning, leading the team to the semi-finals in her inaugural campaign before winning the competition last year.
An ex-England Roses athlete, Francis-Bayman had an accomplished playing career, including a season in New Zealand with Central Pulse where she made the Grand Final.
Greenway said: “Sara and I both came through the highperformance programme at Bath and played together for a long time.
“She is a smart, driven individual who knows how to win and more importantly knows how to get the best out of players.
“After her season at Sirens, she understands the setup here, what works and what needs to be pushed on.
“I know the players will be excited to have someone with her class on board and I can’t wait to start working with her this summer.”
Francis-Bayman said: “Scotland are a rapidly improving team who have a huge amount of potential and I’m looking forward to working with Tamsin to help them to challenge at the highest level.
“I’ve known both Tamsin and Karen (Atkinson, the new Performance Director for Netball Scotland) for a long time and couldn’t miss the opportunity to work with them to take the Scottish Thistles to the next level.
“We’ve seen how much talent there is in Scotland through the Sirens’ performances and I hope to contribute to that potential being transferred into results.”
Atkinson said: “It is important that we prepare the Thistles in the best way possible heading into a Commonwealth Games year and then into the Netball World Cup.
“It is fantastic to be able to add a coach of Sara’s calibre to Tamsin’s coaching team.
“Sara was an exceptionally smart player. She has now transferred that to becoming a title-winning coach with Loughborough Lightning.”