Varese added Michel Morandais

Cimberio Varese added the French forward known as 'Air France' to their roster. They announced the signing of Michel Morandais(1.96-SG/SF) via their official website and this is a great addition for Varese that celebrate their return to the big league with a quality signing.

Morandais started his pro career in Italy playing for Cantu, after graduating from Colorado and then moved to Napoli, where he stayed for 2 seasons. He also played for Barcelona, Estudiantes and last season he played for Nancy. Morandais is known for his athletic skills and also for his ability to score from any distance. He averaged 7.1 points 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 35 games in the ProA for Nancy.

Hapoel Jerusalem added Pinkney and Thompson

Pinkney(2.07-PF/C) was a highly regarded basketball player in high school, and was recruited to the Nevada-Reno Wolfpack, where he played college ball from 2001 until his 2005 graduation.

Pinkney played abroad after college, gaining experience on both a French team and an Italian team. Hapoel welcomes Pinkney to the 2009-2010 team, which currently includes Yuval Na'imi, Terii Simons, Sharon Sasson, Uri Kokia, Leo Lyons, Ben Lezar and Guy Dotan.

source : hapoel.co.il

Hapoel signed another American player today, adding Dijon Thompson(2.01-SF) to the 2009-2010 roster. Thompson played for UCLA and was drafted for the NBA following college, playing for the Phoenix Suns. Most recently, Thompson played overseas for ALBA Berlin. A standout guard-forward, Jerusalem warmly welcomes Thompson to the Hapoel family.

source : hapoel.co.il

Michael Harrison signed with Hapoel Haifa

6’9” power forward Michael Harrison has signed with Hapoel Haifa in the Israeli National League. Last year the 25 years old had a good season with CSU Altassib Sibiu in Romania.

He averaged 16.5 ppg, with 8.5 rpg in the EuroChallenge and 10.2 ppg, with 5.1 rpg while shooting 64 % from the floor in the Romanian League. Michael is a quick athletic player who runs the floor well and is an outstanding shot blocker.

source : interperformances.com

Granada announced Jon Stefansson

CB Granada announced via their official website, the signing of Icelandic shooting guard Jon Stefansson(1.95-SG) who played for KR Reykjavik and Benetton Treviso last season. This will probably be the last signing of Granada that acquired a seasoned shooter behind the arc.

Last season Stefansson conquered the icelandic league as a player of KR Reykjavik beating Grindavik 3-2 in the playoffs.He was declared the MVP of the finals averaging 18.5 points 4 rebounds and 5.6 assists during the 5 games of the play-offs. After that he returned to Italy signing with Benetton Treviso and averaging 7.4 points 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 10 games. Stefansson played for Virtus Roma the previous 2 seasons and has also played for Napoli, Valencia and Trier.

AE Limassol signed Savvas Manousos

The Greek power forward/center Savvas Manousos (208-F/C-85) is officially Proteas EKA AEL Limassol's player since yesterday morning. The talented player is currently with the team of Aris Thessalonikis and is basically on a uniform the last month. Savvas Manousos will add power and rebounds in the Limassol team.

It is worth mentioned that Savvas Manousos is the seventh player to be added in the roster of the Queen of Limassol. There are rumors that a new American is ready to sign that has a really impressive name in the European market.

source : eurobasket.com

Mensah-Bonsu joins UK team

Great Britain have received a shot in the arm ahead of the EuroBasket following the late arrival of Pops Mensah-Bonsu from the NBA. Mensah-Bonsu, prevented from joining the national team this summer while he negotiated a contract with the Houston Rockets, also needed to be properly insured before showing up for national team duty. Once his insurance was in place, Mensah-Bonsu joined training on Wednesday.

It remains to be seen how his inability to play in any of the friendly games affects the player, and team chemistry. "We're really excited to finally have Pops with us," Britain coach Chris Finch said.

"Adding him is a boost; it keeps on strengthening the front line. The challenge now is to make sure we get him in as quickly as possible and hope he is in some sort of shape. If there is a strength for Great Britain, it is their depth at power forward and center. Andy Betts, Robert Archibald and Joel Freeland were already in the group and now Mensah-Bonsu should make the front court even stronger.

At his best, as he was during Britain's successful qualifying campaign for the EuroBasket, Mensah-Bonsu is a beast. The 2.06m power forward/center averaged 12.2 points and 10 rebounds per contest. He would have been a no-show in Poland were it not for Britain's ability to get him properly insured.

Ron Wuotila, head of basketball operations for British Basketball, said: "Thanks to the help from the Rockets and Pops we were able to put a policy in place in short order. This is a complicated process and was only possible with the help from many key people." At the EuroBasket in Warsaw, Poland, Britain will play in Group C against Serbia, Slovenia and world champions Spain.

source : eurobasket2009.org

Goran Jeretin returns to Buducnost

Buducnost brings back Montenegrin combo guard Goran Jeretin(1.90-PG/SG) who played last season for BC Kyiv according to his agency's website. The Montenegrin veteran returns to the team that he played for back in season 2006-2007.

His first team was KK Ibon Niksic, where he played until 2001, when he moved to KK Lovcen Cetinje. After a season there he made a name for himself playing for Red Star Belgrade and after 3 seasons there he also played for Buducnost and Maccabi Tel Aviv. He missed season 2007-2008 after an injury and although he had signed with Alba Berlin. Last season he played for BC Kyiv in Ukraine and AEL in Cyprus. He averaged 6.2 points 1.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 19 games in the Ukrainian Superleague.

Panellinios announced Josh Davis

Panellinios announced the signing of power forward Josh Davis(2.04-PF) via their official website. Davis is an experienced player that has both NBA and European experience.

He graduated from Wyoming University State and then he got his first pro contract with Jesi in Italy. He played in the CBA with Idaho Stampede in 3 different occasions and also played 42 games with Philadelphia in the NBA. In Europe he played for Dynamo Moscow and BC Kyiv and last season he started as a player of the Colorado 14ers in the D-League averaging 19.1 points 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 49 games and then went to Puerto Rico to play for Cangrejeros de Santurce averaging 16.6 points 9.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 14 games.

Sevilla announced Tariq Kirksay

Sevilla announced of the best forwards in European basketball, Tariq Kirksay(1.99-SF/PF). The american power forward has a French passport that he acquired while playing in the French ProA league. Kirksay was playing for Unics Kazan for the last 2 seasons and this season he was one of the top rebounders of the Russian Superleague.

Kirksay played for the most part of his pro career in France, having played for Besancon, Rueil, Bourg and Nancy. This season he averaged 7.3 points 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23 games of the Russian Superleague and 12 points 6.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 12 games of the Eurocup for Unics Kazan.

Telekom Bonn signed Tim Olbrecht

Telekom Baskets Bonn completed its roster for the upcoming 2009-10 Eurocup season by inking center Tim Ohlbrecht to a two-year deal. Ohlbrecht (211, 21) arrives from Brose Baskets, where he averaged 6.5 points, 4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 4 Eurocup games last season.

He also played for Bamberg's vinculated team TSV Troester Breitenguessbach and was sent on loan to Baskets Nuernberg while being with Brose Baskets. Ohlbrecht helped Brose to win the German League title in 2007 and also played for Bayer Giants Leverkusen earlier in his short, promising career. Ohlbrecht is a regular member of the German national team and is getting ready for EuroBasket 2009. He played in the 2008 Olympic Games with Germany, averaging 3.3 points in 3 games.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

Peristeri announced Marcus Faison

As predicted, Peristeri announced guard/forward Marcus Vondell Faison(1.96-SG/SF) via their official website. Peristeri are returning to the big league in Greece after 5 years of playing in the A2 league. Marcus Faison owns a Belgian passport so he does not occupy the position of a foreign player in the Greek A1 league.

Faison has played for Pepinster, Charleroi, Koln 99ers, Malaga and last season he was playing for Besiktas and Menorca. He averaged 11.4 points 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 7 games for Besiktas before he left the team to move to Menorca.

Tirumph added scorer Brion Rush

Triumph Lyubertsy has reached an agreement with shooting guard Brion Rush, who inked a one-year deal with his new team on Tuesday. Rush (186, 25) arrives from Strasbourg, where he averaged 20.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals in 31 French League games last season. He was the 2008-09 French League second top scorer.

Rush already showed his scoring skills in the Euroleague, averaging 15.4 points in 14 games with Chorale Roanne in the 2007-08 season. He has also played for Fileni Bpa Jesi since finishing his four-year at Grambling State University (NCAA). Rush helped Roanne to make it to the 2008 French League final and was chosen at the All-SWAC Player of the Year in 2006. Rush is now ready to make his Eurocup debut with Triumph, that also landed Nikita Shabalkin, Konstantin Nesterov and Sergey Varlamov last month.

source : eurocupbasketball.com