Elderkin steps aside as Davie takes charge at Wildcats

by UK American Sports Fans

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This morning signalled even more coaching changes in the BBL as Dave Elderkin announced he was stepping down as head coach of the Durham Wildcats, and coming into the role is 32-year-old Lee Davie.

On the Durham Wildcats’ official website, Davie has told supporters they are “working hard to give the fans what they want to see and build a Wildcat Basketball Team that County Durham can be proud of”.

The Northern Echo has reported that Elderkin will take time out from the game after eight years in charge, where he brought the North East side from EBL Division 3 all the way through to the BBL.

Davie, who in March was appointed as assistant coach for the GB Under-20s women, has also been involved with Durham University’s women’s team.

Setting his stall out to Northern Echo’s Steph Clark, Davie is looking towards breaking through into the play-offs this season, after Durham made significant progress from their debut season in the BBL, but fell just short of the post-season party.

“It’s a fresh new start for the club. We’ve talked about play-offs as a realistic expectation for this year and I think that would be a good measuring stick in terms of the direction the club’s going in.” – new Durham Wildcats head coach, Lee Davie

“We’ve also got two knock-out competitions to play in and anything can happen in them. I think with the team we are putting together we’ve got to have expectations to put a run together in both those cups.”

Training schedules are expected to be increased in a bid to take Wildcats to that next level, whilst also being helped out with more depth to the roster, which Durham supporters will be pleased to know features talismanic captain, Ralph Bucci, also as player/assistant coach.

“We’re looking to sign one more player. I think this year the team will be deeper than it’s ever been,” revealed Davie.

“We’ll have a good core starting group but we’ll also have some strong guys coming off the bench with BBL experience. We’ve also got some guys coming out of college, who have been part of successful programmes in America that have knocked off some of the elite teams there, and that mirrors what we’re going to have to do this season. We’re going to have to beat some of the top teams in the BBL along the way to make the play-offs.”

  • Season tickets for the Durham Wildcats will go on sale next week and can be purchased online. £100 per adult and £65 per child (under 16). The season ticket will cover all home fixtures including BBL Championship, Cup and Trophy games as well as any pre-season and playoff fixtures. There are planned pre-season games for September, all of which will be announced in due course by the organisation – visit godurhamwildcats.com for more info.