The Border club is expected to announce by the end of this week the signing of US import Fernandez Lockett and possibly fellow American Roy Bright.

Lockett, a 194cm forward, averaged 10.7 points and 6.8 rebounds for Austin Peay State University last year and was the Governors’ leading rebounder during the past two seasons.

Bandits coach James Madigan said Lockett was athletic and if signed, would excite fans with his explosive ability.

“No one is an absolute definite right now but Lockett is the one we would like to have,” Madigan said.

“I’ll be talking to the committee over the next couple of days about two imports.

“At this stage, getting some Australian NBL players is too far off.

“We need to make some decisions now as the immigration process now takes a bit longer than it did before so we need to act in the next couple of days if we’re going to bring the Americans in.

“One is 6-5, the other 6-6 and they can play both forward spots. Because I’m not going to bring in a whole new team, we’re going to need players who are extremely versatile.”

The other potential signing, Bright, averaged 19.1 points and 5.3 boards as a senior at Delaware State University last year.

The 197cm swingman was rated highly enough to have the Philadelphia 76ers invite him to a pre-draft workout before the 2008 NBA draft.

He was also the second pick in the US CBA draft by the East Kentucky Miners and has also played in the US NBDL as well as in the Dominican Republic and Latvia.

Meanwhile, the Lady Bandits are also expected this week to announce the signings of Kiwi international players Toni Edmondson and Lisa Wallbutton.

A 183cm forward, Wallbutton averaged 10.4 points and five rebounds per game for the Tall Ferns at the Beijing Olympics and has been playing in Europe for Belgian club Dexia Namur.

Edmondson was the last player cut from the Tall Ferns’ Beijing squad and at 181cm, is capable of playing both forward positions.

“They’re the players we’ve targeted and they’re the ones we want here,” Lady Bandits coach Ken Kereama said.

“They both bring a lot of international experience to the plate.

“The thing with this team is that it is very young and both Toni and Lisa, while still only in their early 20s have both played overseas and at the Olympics.

“They’re both very versatile, Lisa will play anywhere from small forward to centre, while Toni can swing from shooting guard to power forward.”