Kularoos Plymouth Raiders have completed their team building process with the signing of centre, Michael Commane. It brings a close to a summer full of exciting signings and indicates a real willingness by the Raiders to build on last season’s BBL Trophy win.

The 6’11”, 240lb Commane is American by birth but qualifies as Irish through his parents, both of whom were born in Ireland. He was born and grew up In Massachusetts and after electing to attend Southern Connecticut State University, he finished out his University studies with Division 2 Stonehill College, based in the heart of Boston. Since graduating, he has been playing in the ABA summer league for the Cape Cod Frenzy and built a reputation for himself as a hard nosed competitor and rebounder.

The signing now gives the Raiders by far the strongest team they’ve ever had, and are legitimately 12 players deep. There is now competition at every spot on the team and training is set to further increase in intensity as soon as Commane arrives in Plymouth on Tuesday of this week. The strength in depth of the team was evident at the weekend, with James Noel, Allister Gall and Brody Bishop all providing important and valuable contributions to the Raiders 89-74 win against BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.

“Michael’s strengths are rebounding, and interior defense and toughness,” Said Raiders Head Coach Gary Stronach. “He flies in from Boston on Monday night, so he’ll be at practice on Tuesday and we’ll have him registered in time for the weekend’s games against Worcester and Guildford. I was really pleased with the contribution from the bench on Friday night, and Michael will just strengthen and deepen the team even more. It’s an exciting year to be a fan of the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders!”

“Michael is coming to us from Stonehill College where he was under the tutelage of one of the best young coaches in the north east of the USA, David McLaughlin,” added Raiders Chief Executive Dave Briggs. He’s only recently qualified as Irish through his parents, and as soon as Gary heard about him, he was in contact right away. His signing’s going to strengthen our front line even more, and provide much needed competition for Terrence at practice. We’re really excited about the team we’ve put together this season.”