Kings recruit NBL's first Indian player
Aug 30, 2017 - 4:25 AM Amritpal Singh was raised in a village in northern India - now he is preparing to represent the Sydney Kings and the NBL on basketball's big stage.The 26-year-old centre is set to be the first Indian player in the NBL after signing a one-year deal with the Kings.
The club has confirmed he will travel to the United States for the pre-season exhibition clash against the Utah in Salt Lake City on October 3 at the Jazz's 19,000-seat home arena.
The 212cm Singh impressed coach Andrew Gaze initially at the NBL Draft Combine then in off-season trials, earning a contract despite only taking up the sport at age 19.
He debuted for India around a year later before captaining the national team last year.
Gaze urged patience with Singh, but he expects him to contribute from early in the season
"He's got great athleticism, runs the floor, got good hands, got good shooting touch," Gaze told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
"He's got great size. Last season, one of the major deficiencies we had was our rebounding.
"He rebounds the ball really well."
Singh led the Kings for boards in their recent off-season tour of China, also averaging 11 points and eight rebounds at this month's Asia Cup.
Kings boss Jeff Van Groningen was hopeful Singh's recruitment would expose the club to the massive Indian market in Australia and abroad.
Gaze said Singh was recruited on ability and the decision to take him was not made lightly.
"Strip away his nationality, if this guy was Australian, how would we look at him?" Gaze told AAP.
"There's always risk, but I don't think there's any greater risk with him than with some of the other talent we were looking at."
Singh joins big men Isaac Humphries and Dane Pineau, import Perry Ellis and veteran forward Tom Garlepp as new Kings additions.
Singh told AAP he felt lost at his first training session with the Kings around their game plan but has quickly picked up the plays.
Source: AAP
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