Basketball: Rickert signs for third Breakers season

Popular American import Rick Rickert has signed with the Breakers for another tilt in the Australian National Basketball League.

It will be his third season with the Breakers and the centre said yesterday that he had an eye on a Tall Blacks singlet as well.

Rickert's decision to stay with the club was timely after Canadian import Dave Thomas told the club this week that knee and back problems had forced him to withdraw from his one-year deal.

Coach Andrej Lemanis remains confident a suitable replacement will be found.

"Dave would have been a great fit for us as a player and a person.

"However I appreciate his honesty and the speed with which he has acted. This will enable us to move quickly to find a quality replacement."

Thomas, 32, has played 34 times for his country, but most of the shooting guard's career has been in Australia where he was a key member of the Melbourne Tigers' grand final winning efforts of 2006 and 2007.

Rickert's decision to stay on was something of a surprise as it was thought that he would be beyond the Breakers' budget this year.

Rickert, who has played 46 times for the club, had other offers and at higher money than the Breakers could offer but could not see himself playing for any other ANBL outfit.

"Playing for anyone but the Breakers in the ANBL just didn't feel right," Rickert said. "I knew that the Breakers only had a limited budget for their final [import] spot, but I talked with my wife and we just knew that this is where we wanted to be.

"We have a new daughter, and it was really important for us to be in an environment we knew, and with people that we are very comfortable with.

"Part of our decision was definitely based on our long-term plans. This will be our third season in Auckland, we love the place and the people, and we are looking into our options for making New Zealand home.

"Whether in the future that means pulling on a Tall Blacks singlet, who knows - but that's definitely in the big picture."

Breakers general manager Richard Clarke said Rickert's signing came out of the blue but has put a spring in the step of everyone at the club.

"Rick is such a strong personality and so well liked around the place that this has got everyone buzzing.

"As was the case with Phill Jones we thought Rick was a player that we would reluctantly have to let go due to salary cap constraints and changes to the roster.

"For him though to be the catalyst to his own signing and for the reasons he has described is a great vindication of all the work the club has put in over recent years."

Rickert will join his teammates on Friday for pre-season training.

Lemanis said scouting for Thomas' replacement had begun and he hoped to make an announcement in a week or so.

- NZPA