Brighton Bears are to put their squad on full-time contracts next season.

But the A team which takes to the court for the first game in September is likely to be very different to the one which finished bottom of the southern conference in the club's first season back in Brighton.

Bears have agreed terms with Michael Brown who skippered the side when Richard Scantlebury left two months before the end of last season. Brown has signed a two-year contract while new deals with Daniel Hildreth and James Brame will probably be finalised next week.

But player-of-the-season Jan Trojanowski, Charles Claxton, Jon Gaines and Lormont Sharp all look as if they have played their last game for the club.

Trojanowski has until this week to agree to Bears' final financial offer, but owner Romek Kriwald admitted the chances of him accepting were slim.

Kriwald said: "Basically he wants too much money and certainly more than we are prepared to pay. He has been looking elsewhere and it looks like we will be going forward without him."

Bears have already began the search for a player to fill Trojanowski's non-permit slot and hope to sign a North American point guard in the next few days.

But Claxton, Sharp and Gaines will definitely not be returning to the club.

Bears' new American, who has no experience of the British League, could be one of as many as seven new faces next season when the club will be training full-time at Sussex University under coach Mark Dunning.

"All the players will be making a full-time committment to the club," added Kriwald. "The top clubs in our league operate the same way and it is definitely the way forward, we will have call on what they do five days a week and Mark will be based here as well."

Only Stuart Newman, who spent most of last season as a bench replacement, is unlikely to take on a full-time committment because he is reluctant to give up his current job.

As well as recruiting several new faces over the coming weeks, Dunning has also strengthened his backroom staff by appointing Phil Waghorn as his assistant.

Waghorn, who is the county's basketball development officer, played in the league when Bears were based at Worthing and was player-coach of Mid Sussex Magic for eight years until they folded at the end of last season.

Meanwhile the club have confirmed that half of their home fixtures next season will be played at Magic's old home, the Triangle in Burgess Hill.

They are anxious to build a strong fan base in Mid Sussex, more so now that Magic have folded. But they have succeeded in removing unpopular midweek nights from the home schedule. The opening game at the Brighton Centre is on Sunday, October 1 but all subsequent home fixtures will be played on Saturday evenings.

Kriwald added: "We took all the home dates the Brighton Centre could offer us. I'm not too troubled about going to Burgess Hill anyway.

"It's 15 minutes up the road, the parking is free, the arena is excellent and it gives us a chance to build up a fan base there."