Early in their player development programme video, head coach Lloyd Gardner makes clear that Surrey see its role as bigger than the first team.
The professional game within this country needs to understand its responsibility to growing basketball
Surrey do not own their arena. They do not spend like some other teams in the league. In their second SLB season, they gave real minutes to young players, trusted older players with important roles, and stayed competitive while doing it.
One of the smaller-budget clubs in the league is doing the work that bigger clubs often leave undone.
More Than One Breakout
Nedas Cholevinskas was the breakout star of last season. Surrey brought him back and kept his development moving.
Among under-21 players who have logged minutes across SLB competitions so far this season, Surrey have the top two in minutes played.
| Player | Team | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|
| Nedas Cholevinskas | Surrey 89ers | 801.6 |
| Timmy Nwankwo | Surrey 89ers | 356.1 |
| Matthew Goodwin | London Lions | 159.3 |
| Nino Satha | Caledonia Gladiators | 15.6 |
| Demi Babalola | Manchester Basketball | 12.5 |
| Oscar Curran | Leicester Riders | 11.2 |
| Lukasz Paradysz | Cheshire Phoenix | 3.9 |
| Rafi Pierre-Louis | Cheshire Phoenix | 0.6 |
In December, Surrey hosted the first Niners Winter Showcase, a four-team U21 event. The senior minutes, the showcase and the player development programme all point the same way: Surrey are building proper structure around young players.
Built in Both Directions
Talking to The SLB Show, head coach Lloyd Gardner described Surrey as a home for both ends of the age spectrum.
They come to us at the start, we give them those opportunities and then at the end we’re able to get some time out of them as well
Surrey trusted older players with major responsibility. Among over-33 players across SLB competitions this season, they had the league leader in minutes through Tayo Ogedengbe and another major contributor in Andrew Lawrence.
| Player | Team | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|
| Tayo Ogedengbe | Surrey 89ers | 747.5 |
| Mike Ochereobia | Sheffield Sharks | 507.9 |
| Fahro Alihodzic | Sheffield Sharks | 340.2 |
| Andrew Lawrence | Surrey 89ers | 339.5 |
| Ovie Soko | London Lions | 183.1 |
| Darius Defoe | Newcastle Eagles | 173.8 |
Tayo and Lawrence gave Surrey calm and standards. Day in, day out, they showed younger players what being a professional looks like.
Little Margin for Error
Unlike every other SLB team, Surrey chose not to use the full number of import spots the rules allow this season. That created room for younger and older players, but left them less margin for error.
The version of Surrey that really worked was the one built around Ronald Polite III, Kino Lilly Jr, Tyrin Lawrence, Isiah Small and Mike Graham. When those five played, Surrey looked like one of the better teams in the league. Outside that version — before Tyrin arrived or after Small left for Israel — they looked very different.
| Player Availability | Record |
|---|---|
| With Polite III, Lilly Jr, T. Lawrence, Graham and Small | 9-4 |
| Without one or more | 7-20 |
That is how thin the margins were. Surrey found a version of the team that worked, but could not hold onto it for long.
More Than They Should
Surrey gave young players real minutes, trusted older players with major roles, and built a competitive first team around both.
That is more than many better-funded clubs are doing. Surrey know who they are, and more and more they look like a club taking responsibility for more than itself.
