Leicester Riders Sign Andy Thomson from BBL Rivals

Leicester Riders

Leicester Riders have announced the signing of Andy Thomson from BBL rivals, Newcastle Eagles, on a two-year deal.

The 32-year-old forward joins the BBL league champions having spent the past two seasons competing against the Riders with 13 pieces of silverware won so far in his BBL career.

Thomson averaged 13.3 points per game along with 7.6 rebounds last season and lifted the BBL Cup title back in January.

“Andy is a player that has been around this league a long time, I have always admired the way that he plays,” said Riders Head Coach Rob Paternostro.

“He is a player that is extremely versatile for his size; a good shooter, good passer and productive on the boards and when you look around the league and look at talented British players, Andy is up there at the top of the list.

“We certainly feel he is going to fit in very well here and he is a guy that has a passion for winning like we do.”

Thomson made his BBL Championship debut for Mersey Tigers against Leicester back in 2009 and won the Playoffs title in his first season before achieving a historic treble the following year.

After the demise of the Tigers, Thomson made the switch further north to join Newcastle and continued his winning habit as the Eagles swept all four trophies.

Upon his return to the North East following a two-year stint in France, the Mancunian picked up from where he left off and helped his side to another clean sweep in the 2014-15 season.

Thomson becomes the fourth confirmed player on the roster for the 2016-17 season alongside the returning Drew Sullivan, Tyler Bernardini and Harrison Gamble.

Leicester Riders have also signed Swedish forward Pierre Hampton with the former Plymouth Raiders player announcing his move on Facebook with Newcastle also believed to have been interested in his signing.

Meanwhile, former Riders forward Rashad Hassan has agreed to join the London Lions for the coming season.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix