Yannick stands out from the Crowd-er for Phoenix

Cheshire Phoenix have brought in young legs to compliment the experience already acquired for the upcoming 2013/14 BBL Championship campaign.

Yannick Crowder, who comes in at 6′ 8″, is a 22-year-old from Stone Mountain, Georgia who earned himself the nickname “Sultan of Swat” at Florida A&M College, thanks to an average of one block and five rebounds throughout his college career.

He already has European experience, turning out for MLP Academics Heidelberg in the German Pro A league where he averaged almost two blocks per game.

Head coach John Lavery hopes will fuel his team in both the front and back court.

“It is vital to have players who are committed on defence and Yannick has proved that he is no slouch at that end of the court,” he said. “His athleticism will be important to the team and I expect him to become a firm fan favourite.”

Named after French Open tennis winner Yannick Noah, Crowder tested that athleticism last October when, on the advice of a former coach, he travelled to the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia to enter the Australian Rules football draft combine.

It was an unusual move for the young athlete but it showed that he is not afraid to go out on a limb in pursuit of his goal to become a professional athlete.

He joins experienced forward/centre Calvin Clemmons, Phoenix stalwart Shawn Myers and the returning Chris Pearce in Lavery’s squad so far.