Luol Deng will definitely be bringing a touch of NBA magic to Sussex - and that's from the man who picks the team.

Great Britain coach Chris Finch has confirmed the Chicago Bulls star will make his home debut for the national team when they host Ireland at K2 in Crawley next week.

Sussex-based point guard Richard Midgley is also in the squad for the two warm-up fixtures, on Thursday and Friday, ahead of a series of crucial Eurobasket fixtures.

Deng was unable to confirm his participation in the Crawley dates when talking to The Argus recently.

He did not join in practice at K2 yesterday due to a prior engagement with the NBA's community programme in France.

But Finch said: "He will definitely play. He would have been practising with us here if he had not had the commitment in France."

Deng, who learnt to play basketball in London after his family fled Sudan when he was a child, has been a big hit in his two years with Chicago so far.

He was at his best when he helped the resurgent Bulls to a 4-0 sweep of champions Miami in last spring's play-offs, averaging 26.3 points and nine rebounds per game in the series.

But Finch, whose team embark on a series of friendlies in France and Croatia today, insists the Brits have more to offer than one star name.

Asked what fans will see at Crawley, he said: "Hopefully a squad in the process of coming together.

"They will be our final warm-up games so we should be pretty much where we want to be. We are a way off that but we have five games between now and then.

Tickets for the K2 fixtures, both of which start at 7.30pm, are priced £10 and available in advance via basketball gb.com or by calling 01293-553636.