SURREY TO STRENGTHEN, WARRIORS OUT

Surrey United will have a stronger team next season, owner and coach Jack Majewski has promised, but the future of their closest rivals is up in the air.

MVP understands that the Guildford-based club are pondering the concept of entering an offshoot team, based around university-age players, which could enter the third or fourth tier of the French league.

It would run in tandem with a BBL side with Majewski believing that United can benefit on and off the court from such a radical move.

United finished second from bottom this term, their first since his takeover from previous owner Alison Reeve.

However he has vowed to put a much more competitive roster together this summer.

“I know it for a fact we will be better,” Majewski said. “It’s not confidence. I think we are in a good situation. I know we didn’t make the playoffs but we have good players, we lost three overtime games and apart from Newcastle, we competed with every opponent.

“We’re talking to quite a few interesting players. We’ll be staying in Surrey Sports Park for sure but we have a few interesting options in terms of playing in other competitions.”

Plans for a new professional basketball team in Edinburgh have been put on ice after it was confirmed that East Scotland Warriors will not be joining the BBL next season.

The decision is of little surprise with the league imposing a deadline on the club’s owner Donald Sampley to address major concerns over his financial backing as well as putting a structure in place to put a competitive team on the floor at Meadowbank by this summer.

“They just aren’t ready,” confirmed BBL chief operating officer Andy Webb. “We have readiness reviews for every new club to try and make sure they don’t come into the league and then fail.”

The move leaves Leeds Carnegie and Bristol Flyers as the new entrants for the 2014-15 campaign.

However the position of Birmingham Knights, who lost all 35 games in their debut season, is to be reviewed with concerns cantering on their off-court infrastructure, rather than simply a lack of victories.

The BBL is expected to finalise its list of entrants by the end of May.