Sterling Davis did not waste much time after jetting in for his English basketball adventure.

The 6ft 7ins forward arrived from Dallas at 6am on Monday, was taken to his new home in Lewes and was training with his new Brighton Bears colleagues first thing on Monday morning.

It has been a rush job all round for the big 23-year-old and his new colleagues as they race against time to be ready for the new season.

The squad finally got together late this week as they built towards the weekend's pre-season tournament in Birmingham.

Randy Duck and Wilbur Johnson both had their arrival delayed by the disruption of flights caused by the recent terror attacks in the United States.

Coach Nick Nurse was expecting to postpone the signing of a third import until he had seen how his men performed against Chester and Newcastle in the warm-up games.

But a few familiar faces were present at the Bears' new Falmer base on Monday as pre-season kicked off in earnest.

Mike Brown, Errol Seaman and a more muscular looking Dave Wahl were all being put through a couple of tough sessions on court plus work in the weights room.

New boy Mark Jackson was present, still sporting an old Thames Valley training top following his summer transfer from the old rivals.

A handful of hopeful trialists were trying to catch the eye of coach Nurse and his assistant Steve Swanson.

And there too was the giant Davis on the latest stage of his globetrotting existence as a basketball pro.

Born in Arkansas and educated at Tulane College, Davis spent last winter playing for Aguada in Uruguay and Centro Entrerriano in Argentina.

Little did he know his performances in those two highly competitive leagues, where he averaged around 22 points per game, were being monitored back in London by Nurse, who had picked out Davis as one to watch in his college days.

Once Nurse had settled at Brighton, he made Davis his second new recruit.

Davis admitted; "I don't know what to expect. I only got the call about three weeks ago saying a deal may be coming through from England.

"My agent has worked with Nick Nurse before and he has had players come through when Nick was at other teams.

"Nick was looking for a particular player and my agent gave him my name and he saw some tape.

"We talked about it and I did a little research and I guess they did their research on me as well.

"Uruguay and Argentina are both Spanish speaking countries and I didn't want to deal with the struggle of communication.

"I wanted to see another part of the world so this was a good opportunity.

Nurse does not tend to sign raw American rookies so the experience of playing in south America will stand the new boy in good stead.

Davis added: "I don't have anything to compare it with in this league but it was different to the United States.

"The talent is a lot better in the States but there were good players there too.

"The league in Argentina was a little more competitive than in Uruguay but both were pretty skilled leagues and the Americans were pretty talented so it was a good experience."

It felt a little like first day of term as the players got together at Falmer as part of the club's new tie-up with the University of Sussex.

That was just the way Davis liked it. He admitted: "I heard there were problems with this team last year in terms of wins.

"I didn't know any of the players before I got here. It's all a new experience for everyone on the team and that's good.

"A lot of times I go to teams who have already organised themselves but here we are all starting together on the same page and I like that."

He added: "I just want us to win. I will do whatever Nick wants me to do.

"I think I can provide some inside and outside game for the team but it's a team game and I just want us to come together and win."