Olumide Oyedeji hopes a few good showings in the ULEB Cup can help him back into the NBA.

The man from Ibadan, Nigeria, has already trained twice with his new Brighton Bears team-mates and would have loved to have joined them in action against Sopot tonight (8pm).

Instead, he will have to wait until next week's trip to Cholet to take the next step in a career which has already seen him rub shoulders with the best in the business.

Oyedeji played 66 times in two seasons with Seattle Supersonics, totalling 90 points and 146 rebounds, before moving to Orlando in the summer of 2002.

His 27 appearances last season included three starts and brought 27 points plus 50 boards.

Having reached the end of his contract in Florida, he is now based in London and was trying his luck with Greek side Ilisiaskos when Bears visited Ionikos a fortnight ago.

Player and coach found themselves on the same flight to Athens, got talking and the seeds of a deal were sown.

Oyedeji, who qualifies for European action under the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and selected African and Caribbean nations, said: "I played for coach Nick (Nurse) in the summer league in Treviso a couple of years ago. I just wanted to say thank you to him, play basketball and have fun.

"I want to work on my game, work with a good coach and get myself back into the league. Being in England feels like home for me."

There must surely be some culture shock when you have been used to shooting around with Tracy McGrady but Oyedeji insisted: "Every team is an opportunity.

"I want to play hard and make everybody happy. When people are winning they're happy so that's what I'm going to do.

"Of course Orlando is a big club and the NBA taught me a lot of things. They are so professional, it's a different life entirely."

Sopot have won all seven domestic league games to date, plus two out of three in the ULEB Cup, led by top-scoring Slovenian Goran Jogodnik and star Lithuanian forward Tomas Masiulis.

Their bench includes Travis Conlan, who made his professional debut at Worthing Leisure Centre while playing for Sheffield and later joined Nurse's title-winning Manchester side.

Conlan said: "My best year as a pro was with Nick at Manchester. I've got great memories of that and it is going to be weird going up against him.

"I've been surprised by Brighton's results in Europe. I didn't think they would be doing so well against some top clubs in Europe.

"Nick's a great coach. He gets the best out of his guys and is doing that here."

Sopot trained at the Triangle last night without their recently signed Venezuelan international centre Richard Lugo, who is not yet eligible for European action.

The Polish outfit still expect to top Group F.

Conlan added: "We are a very up-tempo team, good inside and with guys who can shoot the ball well. If we play as a team we are very hard to beat."

One man hoping for a home win will be Lietuvos Rytas point guard Aaron Lucas as his side battle for top spot in Group F with the Poles.

He said: "With their ability and their style of play I think Brighton can surprise any team.

"It almost happened to us. They are a talented team and they have a lot of guys who know how to play basketball."