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Metro Halifax file photo by Ryan Taplin
High-flying Eric Crookshank has signed to play in Europe and he likely won’t return to the Halifax Rainmen next season.
The face of the Halifax Rainmen’s inaugural season has left for Finland, and it may be a sign of things to come.
Rainmen all-star forward Eric Crookshank signed to play pro ball in Europe this week, and owner Andre Levingston said more roster changes could be in on the way shortly.
The only returning player he confirmed as a high-priority to sign is swingman Brian Silverhorn, who earned an invite to a Toronto Raptors’ free-agent camp on the weekend.
“We had some very talented guys from last year, but we saw some areas we need to be better at — on the defensive end,” Levingston said. “It was an offensive league, but I’m a defensive guy, and we didn’t play defence the way I’d like.”
The Rainmen announced yesterday that they are joining the Premier Basketball League, which boasts a more defensive style than the wide-open American Basketball Association.
Levingston said he wants to recruit more players from the NCAA Division 1 ranks, a tactic that helped the Vermont Frost Heaves win back-to-back ABA championships.
“We’re going to look for higher quality players,” he said. “You have two quality leagues to play basketball in North America — the D-League and the PBL. We have a pool of players we can look at and sign and get the fans excited about.”
If things don’t work out for Crookshank in Finland, Levingston said the team would welcome him back.
Silverhorn, who averaged 18.2 points-per-game last season and had a .394 three-point field-goal percentage, has spent the past month training heavily in the Chicago area.
“Brian Silverhorn is definitely a kid who we feel can play at the next level with more improvement,” Levingston said. “We would definitely like to keep him on our team.”
>> The PBL offers a traditional style of basketball, without the gimmicky 3-D rule and 13th man from the ABA.
>> Levingston reiterated that head coach Rick Lewis will be back with the Rainmen for the 2009 season.
>> Levingston is hoping to play more home games in the PBL on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Last year, the Rainmen played weekday ABA games on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
>> Rainmen 7-foot-3 post James Tyler was with Silverhorn as a tryout at the Raptors’ camp on the weekend.
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