Supremos face huge challenge

BASKETBALL/ Round-up: New director of coaching Greg Gurr and Superleague manager Karl Donnelly will have to hit the ground running if they are to bring basketball up to the next level on the amateur sporting ladder in Ireland.

What basketball needs is a homegrown star. Producing a DJ Carey or a Cora Staunton would allow the advertising of the game on a national scale.

The GAA do have a 63-year headstart but they should still be the benchmark for the relaunched Basketball Ireland.

Gurr's pedigree in Australia and Britain leaves him well placed to unearth a star. There are, however, obstacles to such a discovery. Overseas players, mainly Americans, continues to flow into the league. Some have contributed to development, but the standard of the arrivals has been hit and miss.

With the Superleague going into just its second week, already two imports have fled the flock. After a poor performance on day one of the season, Limerick's Wesley Fluellen has returned to the United States, while Gleneagle Lakers' Zack Frey has also departed, after a bout of homesickness. It makes you question the methods of recruitment for players.

If Gurr's arrival does bring talents to the fore, Donnelly is well placed to market them - he knows the league inside out, having been a player with

St Vincent's up to this year.

Also, Donnelly has played Gaelic football with Na Fianna alongside Dessie Farrell, chief executive of the Gaelic Players' Association, which continues to grow by championing player welfare and image rights.

Donnelly prefers to work inside the system, where he is ably supported, but he could do a lot worse than learn from his clubmate on the Mobhi road.