GB Youth Team Performance staff unveiled following successful combine

Paul Fournel has been unveiled as the new Youth Teams Programme Manager for Great Britain Basketball.

Fournel, who was Team Manager for Limoges CSP Basketball Club for ten years, started his role earlier this month and one of his first tasks was to attend the Under-16 and Under-18 GB Combine which took place at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester on the 2 and 3 January.

The Combine, which was organised by British Basketball with support from Basketball England, Basketball Scotland and Basketball Wales, was attended by more than 100 young players who were put through their paces by the performance teams. The event was organised to help to identify players for the under-16 and under-18 squads that will represent GB at the European Championships later this year.

Fournel was impressed with the young talent on display at the Combine and said: “The Combine was really interesting as a way of developing the new project for GB Basketball because we were able to spend time with the staff, and our players were able to meet each other. We also had a chance to compare the talented players from across the UK.

“It was good to be at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester too because the facilities are great.

“It’s also been a great way for me to meet all of my new colleagues and we have seen that the new GB project is really amazing and we hope it will bring basketball in the UK to the level it must be at in the next year.”

Asked about what he would like to achieve in his new role Fournel said: “In the future I hope we will be able to create a great atmosphere for everyone. For the players for sure, but also for the staff and for all people involved like parents, the Federation and for the management.

“From this we hope to get good results and then we want to help everyone develop as players but we also we want to help them to become great adults and human beings too.”

Alongside Fournel, the majority of performance staff for the GB youth teams have now been confirmed. Included is legendary GB women’s basketballer Chantelle Handy, who briefly came out of retirement at the end of last year, and she’ll continue as the Under-20 women’s head coach.

The other head coaches are Krumesh Patel (Under-18 women), Lance Randall (Under-20 men), Alan Keane (Under-18 men) and Dan Petts (Under-16 men).

Patel has moved into the Under-18 women’s head coach role after establishing a great programme for the Under-20 men last year. Keane remains in his role after an excellent performance from the team in 2023.

Dan Petts will lead the Under-16 men following the experience he has gained as GB Under-16 assistant coach and through his work in coaching and scouting in the Spanish Basketball system, and Lance Randall, head coach at St Leo University in the USA, who has previously worked as assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, is joining GB Basketball as head coach of the Under-20 men’s team.

Fiona Pimblett, Consultant Performance Lead for the British Basketball Federation (BBF), said: “Following a very competitive recruitment process, we are really excited to announce the performance staff that will lead the Great Britain teams for the 2024 FIBA European Youth Championships.

“The recent Combine reinforced what we already knew – we have some very talented players that are part of the GB Basketball pathway and it’s important that we surround these players with excellent staff who can support and guide them. We are delighted that we have been able to do this.”

There is currently a vacancy for a new Under-16 women’s head coach after the experienced and established GB Head Coach, Lee Davie, has unfortunately stepped down from the role. Recruitment to this vacancy will begin soon and the BBF is looking forward to continuing to work with Lee in some other capacity in the future.

Full details of the head coaches, assistant coaches and other key roles are included below.

U20 Women			U20 Men
Head Coach	Chantelle Handy		Head Coach	Lance Randall
Assistant Coach	Kenrick Liburd		Assistant Coach	TBC
Assistant Coach	Renee Busch		Assistant Coach	TBC
Team Manager	Paula Charity		Team Manager	Ruchae Walton
Physio	Dave Hall		Physio	Javid Mirza
S&C*	Omar Heyward		S&C*	Jordan Godfrey
U18 Women			U18 Men
Head Coach	Krumesh Patel		Head Coach	Alan Keane
Assistant Coach	Ash Cookson		Assistant Coach	Ian Macloed
Assistant Coach	Oli Parr		Assistant Coach	Mike Bernard
Team Manager	Honor Campbell		Team Manager	Steve Mikinis
Physio	Charlotte Robinson		Physio	Toby Welch
S&C*	Keara Peters		S&C*	Jamie Wilkinson
Analysis intern	Adithya Krishna
U16 Women			U16 Men
Head Coach	TBC		Head Coach	Dan Petts
Assistant Coach	Maialen Zilbeti		Assistant Coach	Billy Beddow
Assistant Coach	Azeb Smalley		Assistant Coach	Sterling Muschett
Team Manager	Charlotte Redhead		Team Manager	Gavin Nayler
Physio	Wura Ijelu		Physio	Dan Morton
S&C*	Stuart Pearce		S&C*	Anthony Reed

* Strength and Conditioning