Basketball: Mims joins Leicester

LEICESTER RIDERS yesterday announced that Billy Mims, the former London Leopards coach, will be taking over at the club. The 39-year-old from South Carolina who led Leopards to consecutive Budweiser League titles in 1997 and 1998 was sacked after London's poor start to this season.

Most believed his removal was rough justice for a coach who had also steered Leopards to a National Cup win three years ago. Leopards did not win anything last season but narrowly lost to Sheffield Sharks in the cup final.

The extrovert coach has a difficult task to get Leicester into position to challenge for a place in the end of season play-offs as they have yet to win a game against a club in the top flight of the Basketball League and are bottom of the Northern Conference of the Dairylea Dunkers Championship.

The hiring of Mims sets up an intriguing game on Saturday night when he faces his old team, Leopards, and the man who replaced him, the former Riders coach, Bob Donewald.