Pat Bates has cut short his American college career to sign professional terms with Brighton Bears.

The 6ft 9ins, 19st power forward or centre from Worthing will be joined in the front court by Andrew Alleyne, who has signed for a second season in Sussex.

Bates, 22, has turned down the captaincy of Belmont Abbey Crusaders in North Carolina to join the team he supported as a boy.

He had originally suggested he would sign for Brighton next summer but, after discussions with Bears chief Nick Nurse, has joined their domestic and Europe League campaign straight away.

Nurse said: "Pat contacted me via email. I asked him about 100 times whether he was sure he wanted to leave college and he is okay about it.

"He's a lot bigger and stronger than people around here will remember. The numbers he put up in college were decent.

"A good comparison is they were marginally better than what Tom Frederick, who we had last season, did in college.

"Pat plays a different position to Tom. It's hard for him to get the ball in that type of environment. Somebody has got to throw it to him for him to be effective."

Bates will complete his business studies and marketing degree in England.

At one stage, he seemed set to give up any thought of professional basketball and stay in the States after graduation.

He admitted: "I was thinking about staying in America because it's so nice out there but I realised I might like to come back to England and give basketball a go.

"I've definitely improved. I've built myself up, I've done lot of weights and I've improved as a player."

Bates played for South Coast, the team based around Bears and Worthing Thunder, which competed in the Hosana Summer League at Crystal Palace last year, and feels he developed during the 2003/4 college season.

Bates said: "We had a senior who was starting at my position last year but I started playing really well and I took his position even though I was still a junior.

"That hadn't happened before."

Bates hopes success with Bears could open the route to a lucrative deal in a European league.

He said: "I think the way to do it is to play for the Bears and get my name known. I also want to play for England."

Nurse admits Bates's skills need refining but said: "We will need to evaluate what he can do for us."

By contrast, Bears know exactly what they are getting with Alleyne, the 35-year-old, 6ft 8ins front court man who returns for a second season.

Alleyne pulled out of the Barbados national team this summer to save himself for another British League season but scored the winning free throws as his club Passoa Station Hill Cavaliers won the national championship.

He exceded expectations last winter with 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in the BBL but was even more impressive in the ULEB Cup, with averages of 12.6 and 6.9.

Nurse said: "He's a high class guy and the tempo in Europe suits him really well."