Purnell Perry

Name: Purnell Perry
Height: 6'5
Position: Small/Power Forward
College: Voorhees
Signed: 1999/2000, 2000/01 and 2002/03

Purnell Perry, probably one of the best finishers to have played in the BBL. He consistently shot around 60% from the floor in his time as a Rider and boy could Purnell dunk......

On his televised debut on Sky Sports v Derby, Perry threw down two absolute monsters to announce to the league that he was for real and he crashed the boards as well.

Despite being only 6'5, Purnell could leap and he was "put together" as well, if he went up for a rebound, he generally got it!!

There would have been no Purnell Perry if it hadn't been for Tim Darling who plucked him from the Icelandic League, which is the only thing you could commend poor Darling over his calamitous stay at the helm......

Purnell was a big cog in the Double team under Mims and he left plenty of memories.

Purnell had another brief stay [2 games] in the 02-03 season but the lure of a bigger pay packet in Korea saw him off on his travels again.

Perry is pictured here playing in New Zealand.

King Ralph Blalock

Name: Ralph Blalock
Height: 6'3
Position: Shooting Guard
College: Towson State
Signed: 2000/01 and 2001/02


King Ralph, Riders talisman from the Double team of 2000.

Signed mid season to replace Freddie Cole, Blalock was an instant fan favourite with his sweet dribbling, deadly three point shooting and nerveless free throw style.

In the Cup Final, Ralph was too much for the Leopards to handle and he was a menace in the play off run at Coventry, making a mockery of the Skydome's tight rims. Wembley held no fear for Blalock either as he made the Sharks pay in the final.

Ralph returned for the 01-02 season but due to the constant chopping and changing of the roster, his form suffered and he departed to the Brighton Bears at the end of the season. He then signed for the Towers in the 03 season.

Jonathan Holmes

Name: Jonathan Holmes
Height: 6'0
Position: Point Guard
College: North Carolina
Signed 2003/04

An early Karl Brown signing to replace the enigmatic Mike Wiatre, Jonathan Holmes had a short career in Rider blue, standing 6'0 and coming from a top program [UNC] in the States, Holmes wasn't a big scorer but could stick the three and dish out plenty of assists. Just as he was settling into the starting five, Holmes injured his ankle driving to the basket in a league game at Loughborough and that was his last action in a Rider uniform.

In 16 appearances, Jonathan shot 40% from 3pt land and averaged 6pts and 4 assists per outing.

After leaving Leicester, Jonathan played a season in Denmark.

Larry Johnson

Name: Larry Johnson
Height: 6'2
Position: Point Guard
College: St Augustine
Signed: 2000/01 and 2001/02

One of the main reasons behind Riders run to Championship glory in 2000 was the form of this man, Larry Johnson.

Larry was the Riders floor general and his array of spin moves, head fakes and aggressive drives to the basket made him tough to stop. During the play off games he was unplayable at times despite carrying a shoulder injury.

Larry came to Leicester after being cut from the Leopards by Bob Donewald who clearly didn't rate him. LJ had the last laugh though, beating Donewald's Leopards to take the National Cup and then after winning the Play off final, proudly shouting at the TV camera "This one is for you, Donewald".

A good point well put Larry.

LJ came back for a short spell in the 01-02 season but he couldn't recapture the explosive form of before.

Larry has since played in Saudi Arabia and in the Lebanon.

Billy Mims

Billy Mims, the most succesful unsuccesful coach in Riders history.

Billy joined Leicester in late 1999 after being released by the London Leopards where he had enjoyed many triumphs. He came to replace the hapless Tim Darling who had got off to the worst start in the clubs history [0-8 league, 0-6 Trophy, 1 win in National Cup].

As fate would decree, Mims' first game would be against the Leopards with none other than Bob Donewald at the helm. What happened that night would go down as one of the great games at the Granby, Billy even made the Riders change in the "away" locker room to try and change the mentality from losing to winning. Riders played in true run and gun style, the shackles were off and Donewald was blowing gasket after gasket as his Cats had no answer to the muscle of Purnell Perry [37pts, 12 boards], the guile of the hitherto unimpressive Troy Coleman [double double] and the presence inside of an unrecognisible Rob Wilson.

We missed the play offs as we couldn't dig ourselves out of the Darling inspired hole but the next season was unbelievable.....

2000-01 saw Mims' first full season in charge and it had many twists and turns. In came Larry Johnson, Billy Singleton, Freddie Cole and a host of others. The season started with 3 losses but the turning point came in an overtime win in the cup at Birmingham. The season picked up momentum, Ralph Blalock was picked up and well, the rest is history.

Sunday 7th January, Sheffield Arena National Cup Final v Leopards. Mims v Donewald part II.

LJ and Blalock saw the Riders home to their first trophy in a tense scrappy game , the final points were fittingly scored by Karl Brown and Riders were home and dry, cue mass hysteria and Cinderella at the ball stories........

Riders were in fourth place in the conference at the season end but were the team in form, a great run to close out the regular season saw a play off trip to Coventry and a match up with Nigel Lloyd's MK Lions. Riders squeezed home by 2pts to set up tie against Mr Peers' Jets with Loren Meyer et al. Riders blew the Jets away to win 90-71 and now the bookies were revising their prices.....
Next up was a semi final vs London Towers and Nick Nurse. a tight game was blown open in the 3rd quarter by some pampant Riders fast break play, the highlight being a two pass break finished by a flying Perry dunk. The Towers were sunk and Mims had done the impossible, guided the lowest seeded team to a Championship Final at Wembley.

Wembley Arena was the setting for the 00-01 Championship Final and Riders started nervously with Sheffield handling the pressure better. As in the semi, the Riders blew out of the traps in the third to blow the Sharks away, Blalock and Malcolm Leak hitting from long range to put a lead together, Sheffield tried to answer from the arc but Reinking, McKinney and Myers had a nightmare, Myers fouling out in the 4th as Riders took the trophy. Amazing scenes indeed.

Billy himself said that he had created a monster and so it proved. The next season [01-02] saw only Blalock and Singleton return, along with Jon Gaines and Jermaine Brown with Mike New joining later. It was a struggle, players came and went, "chemistry" was missing and the play offs never looked like being attained.

It only got worse in the 02-03 season, in came Antoine Sims, Jamal Faulkner, Mo Robinson, Kenya Capers etc but a humiliating defeat to Teesside saw a decline start that the club would struggle to emerge from under Mims. Out went Sims, in came Tim Winn, Leak returned, out went Faulkner, in came "Super" Mario Porter, Robinson was eventually cut for mysterious reasons and the wheels had come off in some style. Mims would oversee 1 win in 40+ games and Riders were at rock bottom.

Season 03-04 surprisingly saw Mims retained but things were no better, another poor start came as Mims signed Mike Wiatre, Mike Pegues, John Smith, Gary Durrant etc. Things came to a head after an 0-12 start and Billy was fired.

A sad end to a rollercoaster ride that at the start had everyone on the edge of their seats, but at the end had people vacating them........

Billy is currently coaching back in Florida at US college level.

Reservoir Bob

Signed: 1996/97 and 1997/98

Ah, Mr Donewald Jnr.........

Where do we start?

Bob joined the Riders for the 96-97 season and he soon made a name for himself with his sideline strops, ref baiting and a minging collection of suits from Nickleby's. With a glass of Coke in one hand and a rolled up programme in the other, many fans didn't watch much of the actual game, spending more time laughing at Bob's "style" on the bench, or total lack of it in many ways. If i had a quid for every time Dan Routledge announced "Technical foul called on Riders Coach Bob Donewald" i would have retired from work long ago........

His recruitment brought in some fine players such as McGee, Reinking, Havrilla, Boone, Ford, Phoenix, Singleton, Hawley, Gayle etc etc.
He also got us to the 1998 Cup Final where we lost to Thames Valley and Gene Waldron broke his leg just as Riders were gaining the upper hand. Unfortunately we didn't make the play-offs that season so Bob left and did what only he could do, join Derby!

He also coached at Leopards and has been an assistant at Cleveland in the NBA.

Bob is pictured just about to erupt at a referee, probably Keith Bruce..........

Justin Phoenix

Name: Justin Phoenix
Height: 6'8
Position: Forward
College: Manhattan
Signed: 1996/97

Justin Phoenix was Bob Donewald's go to guy inside during the 96-97 season. He had an array of smooth inside moves, could also throw it down as well as hit the three if required. Justin also played for Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield in the BBL, he is shown here jamming one home for Giessen in the German Bundesliga.

Sean McCaw

Name: Sean McCaw
Height: 6'7
Position: Forward
College: Southern Utah
Signed: 2003/04

Sean McCaw first came to Riders fans notice while playing for CAB Madiera against Leicester in a pre season game at Loughborough in 2001. He looked really good and fans were pleased when Billy Mims signed him. Sean was made captain and he always gave 100% even though you could see his frustration at some of his colleagues shortcomings. He wrote a regular column in the match programme which revealed Sean's thoughts on a number of topics, this endeared him to the supporters as he usually told it like it was....... An all round good guy now playing back in Switzerland for the Geneva Devils.

Mike Pegues

Name: Mike Pegues
Height: 6'5
Postion: Small Forward
College: Delaware
Signed: 2003/04

One of the few bright spots of Billy Mims' 2003 squad, Mike Pegues carried the Riders on his back for an entire season with manful displays of scoring, rebounding and the odd block too. Mike played his college ball for Delaware, where he was described as perhaps the best player that the program ever produced.

Mike could hit the three, score off the dribble and had a trusty jump shot too. It was a pity that Mike was on a poor team while he was with us, as he certainly could fill it up. Just as well really when you had John Smith and Chris Webber in the starting five too...............

Nate Reinking

Name: Nate Reinking
Height: 6'1
Position: Shooting Guard
College: Kent State
Signed: 1996/97


With the shot clock running down, which former Rider would you like to see with the ball in his hands? Answer-Nate Reinking.
Nate was probably one of the best shooters to have pulled on a Riders vest, either from three point land or with a pull up jump shot.
My favourite Reinking memory was from a BBL game v Manchester, Bob D called a timeout to run a play for Justin Phoenix to get inside and snatch the win. The players came out, the ball was passed around the perimeter and landed with Nate who launched a LONG three ball, much to Donewald's disgust/amazement, SWISH. GAME OVER.

Nate has since turned out for Derby and Sheffield in the BBL and he now plays under Chris Finch for Euphony Bree in Belgium.