UCC Demons lean on Irish core and hope new recruits live up to their predecessors

It will be business as usual at the Mardyke Arena on Friday night when UCC Demons host their great rivals Energywise Ireland Neptune in the opening game of the Men’s Super League.

It has been a tremendous couple of seasons for UCC Demons with the Sunday’s Well outfit winning the Men’s National Cup and Men’s Super League in that period.

Demons coach Danny O’Mahony who was the helm for both title wins continues this season as head coach as he reflected on a few changes that his side have made for the coming campaign.

“When the season ended, our Americans Patrick Robinson and Elijah Tillman had multiple offers with the latter going straight to Bahrain and Australia and he is back in Bahrain for the coming campaign.

“Patrick Robinson had an offer from English side Cheshire Phoenix, so we knew early doors it was going to be a big recruitment year for us to replace two top professionals,” said O’Mahony.

On the Bosman side, Toby Christensen was replaced by the returning Tala Fam from Germany.

“We knew exactly what Tala brought to the table, but we put in a big effort to ensure that we signed two decent Americans,” added Danny.

In the case of Tillman, there are big boots to fill.

“We were never going to get a player like him. Iit’s a near impossibility to get a player of his size coupled with his skills.

“In the last few years players like MJ Randolph, Seventh Woods and Patrick Robinson had taken the league by storm in the guard position so we knew that we needed a high-calibre player in that position.” 

On this occasion, Demons found their man in Australia.

“We looked at many players but found our man Sharif Black playing in Australia in the top league and after a few conversations with him he was very interested in playing with us.” 

Black is a natural scorer and quick off the dribble and his achievements saw him named on the All-Star five in Australia. The Demons faithful will be hoping he can give them the scoring averages they need in this league.

The second Demons' American is 6' 7" Zach, who played in Germany at a decent level and coach O’Mahony believes he is a good fit for the team.

I am extremely happy with what I have seen in preseason games to date and hopefully we will be a competitive side in the coming campaign." 

Demons picked up an English player who is 6' 8" and by all reports is a great acquisition in the rebounding department.

In the last three years, Demons' Irish players proved crucial in collecting trophies. This season, captain Dave Lehane, Scott and James Hannigan, Kyle Hosford, Daryl Cuff, Cian Looney, Luke Sutton and Ben Horgan are all on the roster.

The returning James Beckom, who injured his ACL in Italy last season will not be available for a few weeks, but they look very strong in the Irish player department.

Basketball Ireland brought a new rule in this season that two Irish players will have to be on the court this season but there is a loop-hole that will see certain clubs having squad players with Irish passports allowed to come into that category.

IMPROVED

Looking ahead to the Neptune game, O’Mahony is taking nothing for granted.

“We haven’t played Neptune in preseason and from what I have seen, they have improved from last season with better Americans than previous years.

“I think they have better balance with Eoin Nelson, their 6' 10" signing from UCD Marian giving them plenty of size, and of course, you have Cian and Adam Heaphy with Eli Lenihan... good Irish players so they cannot be taken for granted.” 

Getting a result is all that matters in games of this magnitude.

“Look it’s a great rivalry and our record against them has been pretty good in the last few years but records show that the favourites tag doesn’t really matter if you don’t bring your best form to the table.

“Neptune are a proud club and we have got to be ready as they have plenty of artillery to hurt us.”