The Halifax Rainmen have a new starting point guard.
The Rainmen have signed 28-year-old Jason McLeish, a former NCAA Division I standout with the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The move gives them their first projected starter for their 2010 Premier Basketball League roster.
McLeish most recently played in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association with the East Kentucky Miners, averaging 18.6 points and 3.8 assists last season.
“He was considered the best point guard in the CBA last season,” said Rainmen owner Andre Levingston. “He’s a very solid pass-first guard who knows how to run the show.”
The Rainmen only had one true point guard — Jimmy Twyman — who saw regular floor time last season. Twyman put up workmanlike numbers with 14.1 points and 3.9 assists but the Rainmen see him more as a backup. They believe McLeish gives them a more dynamic floor general.
“We didn’t have a guard to be a director or (making) smart decisions when smart decisions needed to be made,” Levingston said. “Jason is a coach on the court. The person that makes this (team’s) engine run is going to be Jason.”
The Rainmen also signed six-foot-two shooting guard Lonnell Jones, who averaged 9.8 points and 3.4 assists with NCAA Division II Clarion in 2007-08.
Both Jones and McLeish attended a Rainmen tryout combine in the New York City area last weekend.
On one scouting trip, the Rainmen saw Jones score 42 points against former NBA guard Kenny Satterfield.
“This kid was diving on concrete, diving in the stands, defending 94 feet,” Levingston said. “He was just tough. He’s going to come off the bench and give us some toughness.”
