Newcastle Eagles sign Kyle Johnson, Denzel Ubiaro

By Bradley Gains on October 22, 2022

Image credit: Abbie Orwin

Newcastle Eagles have brought in reinforcements to address their slow start to the 2022-23 BBL season with the signings of Kyle Johnson and Denzel Ubiaro.

The duo made their debuts for the club on Friday night as the Eagles defeated previously unbeaten Bristol Flyers 89-78 to end a run of four straight defeats.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Newcastle Eagles (@newcastleeagles)

Johnson links back up with GB assistant coach Marc Steutel to make a first appearance in the BBL. The 33-year-old GB veteran is an 11-year pro with ventures across Europe as well as in his native Canada.

“The BBL is a league I’ve always wanted to play in and I love the way British Basketball is growing,” said Johnson, via release.

“Having the opportunity to come back to the UK and play in front of family and friends means the world to me.”

Meanwhile, Ubiaro makes a return to the league having previously developed as an emerging star in Plymouth. The 1997-born guard had been with the club since 2017 and averaged 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game with the Patriots last season.

Newcastle have been active in their roster changes since the summer with two Americans having been released, while they also had to deal with the blow of losing Rowell Graham to a season-ending injury.

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