THE Albury-Wodonga Bandits have wasted no time filling their vacant import spot, signing former University of Southern California guard JT Terrell.
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The North Carolina product touched down in Albury on Tuesday night and will make his debut in the Bandits’ back-to-back against Ballarat and Frankston this weekend.
Terrell arrives on the Border having recovered from a slight ankle injury he picked up while playing for the Raptors 905 in the NBA D-League.
The 191-centimetre shooting guard said he was itching to get out on the court.
“I’m feeling great, I feel like I’ve adjusted fairly quickly so I’m just looking forward to the game tomorrow,” he said.
“Back-to-back, you can’t go wrong with that.”
The 25-year-old said he considered himself to be a natural shooting guard, but had worked on his game as a back-up point guard during his stint with the Raptors.
“For my size, I’m a natural two or one,” he said.
“Making that transition as a back-up one has been fairly easy.”
During his college career Terrell played for division one colleges Wake Forest and USC, counting San Antonio Spurs power forward Dewayne Dedmon as a teammate.
Terrell said he hoped to continue to learn about his game during his time with the Bandits.
“I feel like I’ve got a lot of knowledge to share with the team,” he said.
“I’m just here to learn, and teach if I can.”
Averaging 11 points, two rebounds and one assist in college, Terrell said he wasn’t feeling any pressure to perform.
“No pressure at all, the guys here are making me feel really comfortable,” he said.
“They’re making my stay here real easy.”
Bandits head coach Brad Chalmers said Terrell’s natural skillset and high basketball knowledge would help him transition smoothly into the SEABL.
“We need him to fit in quickly, but we won’t put too much pressure on him to start,” he said.
“His natural talent will shine through over the first couple of weeks.
“Early indications are that he’s certainly got a really good skillset and understands the game really well, which is pleasing for me.
“Overall, we’e really happy to have him here and we’ll throw him into the mix this weekend.
“Hopefully he can give us some real impact when he’s in.
“That’s what we’ve been lacking, you need your imports to be particularly impactful all year, they’re the key to your success.
“We need JT to be that for the remainder of the season.”
Chalmers said this double-header had been identified as a crucial opportunity to come away with two wins on the road.
“I think we’ve done some really good things over the last couple of weeks, ” he said.
“We’ll go down with a fair bit of confidence and expectation to win both games.”