Nedas Cholevinskas and Timmy Nwankwo are now at US colleges. Andrew Lawrence is still at Surrey but in a new role, supporting Lloyd Gardner as an assistant coach.
The people who helped shape Surrey over the past two seasons are moving into different stages of their careers. The team that supporters watched grow together could not stay together indefinitely.
Birth of the 89ers
In summer 2024, the University of Surrey withdrew its backing amid uncertainty following the loss of the BBL’s operating licence. The Scorchers closed, but Dan Clark and Jodie Jackson launched the 89ers for the new SLB. Gardner remained head coach.
Players retained from the Scorchers’ final season supplied more than half of Surrey’s minutes in 2024/25. The share of minutes played by returning players fell to just over a quarter last season, before dropping to 6.5% in the opening games of 2026/27. Only Cheshire have drawn a smaller share of their minutes from returning players this season.
| Season | % of Minutes by Returning Players |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 56.3% |
| 2025/26 | 28.3% |
| 2026/27* | 6.5% |
*Season so far
Tayo Ogedengbe and Max Coupe account for all the returning playing time this season. At 39, Ogedengbe is the league’s oldest player, two years older than the next oldest. He will turn 40 on 15 May, the day before the Play-off final at The O2.
Ogedengbe’s Surrey career stretches back well before the 89ers. He still gives supporters a familiar link to the Scorchers years, though his approaching 40th birthday raises the question of how much longer they will see him on court.
The Players Who Moved On
Across their first two seasons, the 89ers led the league in minutes for under-21 players. Surrey supplied about two-thirds of all minutes played by that age group across the league in 2024/25. The following season, Cholevinskas and Nwankwo were the league’s leading under-21 players for minutes, and Surrey’s share grew further.
| Season | Surrey U21 Minutes | Surrey’s Share of League U21 Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 781.3 | 67.2% |
| 2025/26 | 1,158.3 | 85.1% |
Cholevinskas joined the Scorchers in February 2024 after a difficult spell with Rytas Vilnius II in Lithuania. He had received little playing time and told Hoopsfix:
It was tough because I didn’t get a lot of playing time and I didn’t really know why. I didn’t really feel wanted. Living there was alright because it is my home country, it was just the basketball side of it.
Surrey gave him a place to continue his career in England. He stayed through the transition to the 89ers and grew into a regular contributor across their first two seasons.
In the same Hoopsfix interview, Cholevinskas named Lawrence as a player he tried to copy in practice, praising his decisions with the ball. Surrey had given him the chance to train and play alongside someone he looked up to.
This season, Lawrence supports Gardner as an assistant coach on game days. Cholevinskas and Nwankwo now take their playing experience to Quinnipiac and Bryant respectively.
The Next Group
Re’Ale Basquine and Oliver Bishop are among the young players now getting opportunities at Surrey. Together, they account for 25.3% of the league’s under-21 minutes so far, compared with 67.2% in 2024/25 and 85.1% last season.
| Player | Team | Minutes Played |
|---|---|---|
| Emilis Zibuda | London Lions | 31.2 |
| Re’Ale Basquine | Surrey 89ers | 12.1 |
| Nino Satha | Caledonia Gladiators | 4.4 |
| Joseph Osarenkhoe | Newcastle Eagles | 3.6 |
| Mo Sanyang | Newcastle Eagles | 3.6 |
| Oliver Bishop | Surrey 89ers | 2.4 |
Nwankwo played just 17.8 minutes across the whole of 2024/25. The following season, he played 356.7. Basquine and Bishop are only a few weeks into their own seasons, with time for their roles to grow.
The first two SLB seasons gave Surrey a team to recognise after an uncertain summer. There is pride in where those players are going, and something to miss about the time they spent together.
Those seasons will always be part of Surrey basketball’s history. What comes next starts with the same thing Nwankwo once had: a few minutes, and the chance to earn a few more.
