The Plymouth Raiders have announced their second signing of the summer, England international player Taner Adu. The 6’3”, 26 year old Adu comes to Plymouth following a season in the BBL with Essex Pirates where he averaged 17 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals per game. He will be a key player for the England team this summer in their round of friendly games, and Raiders Coach Gavin Love was delighted to have secured his signature.

“Taner is a great pick up for us,” said Love. “A number of BBL teams offered Taner a contract, but I think our reputation here, together with the opportunities that he will get playing for the Raiders helped swing the balance in our favour. Taner spoke to former Raiders players Haggai Hundert and Dean Williams (both teammates at Essex) and they were able to tell him a lot about the club and the area.”

The move gives the Raiders their first full England senior international player ever. Adu will play for England this summer in games against Scotland and Lithuania (both at Worcester), in a tournament in Dunkerque in France against Ivory Coast, Belgium Under 23s, Luxembourg and Tunisia, and then in a tournament in Belfast where they will play the Ireland All Stars, the Melbourne Tigers and the University of Pittsburgh. He will be just one of a small number of BBL based players in the England team, joined there by Colin Sing from Essex, Sam Cricelli from Worthing Thunder, James Jones from Everton and Tayo Ogedengbe from Guildford Heat.

“He’ll give us a really solid option at point guard,” added Love. “He can shoot the ball very well, he lead Essex in scoring and had some massive games against other teams last year – 35 against Cheshire, 25 against us, and 11 other games where he scored 20 or more. He does the small things very well, he gets the ball to the right people - he had 16 assists against Guildford last year – he’s a tough defender, and I’m overjoyed that he’s chosen to come to Plymouth and play for us.”

Adu played for Manchester and Teesside before moving to BBL new boys, Essex Pirates at the start of last summer. The Pirates had a tough first season, but Adu grasped his opportunity with both hands and was one of the players to come out of the season having enhanced his reputation significantly.

“We’ve signed 2 players so far and not used up any of our permit spots yet,” said Raiders Chairman Bob Widdecombe. “Gavin has done very well in getting Taner to come to Plymouth; having signed a senior England international like Taner and a player with the proven scoring abilities of Cody, we’re off to a great start. We’re serious about improving the team from last year, and putting together a group of players who will complement each other, work hard and get us back up the table. I know Gavin is keen to get more players signed in the coming weeks, and he’s looking at some outstanding candidates at the minute.”