We are getting close to revealing our new team for the coming season and you would not believe how excited I am about it.

Or maybe you would if you could see the list of names I have in front of me. These are players who may well have signed their contracts by the time you read this and I can't wait to let you know our new line-up.

I intend to have one or two names you will know from around the BBL plus a new talent for you to enjoy.

I have been concerned all summer with replacing Albert White, Rodger Farrington and possibly Sterling Davis but I believe I have maybe even improved on that trio. We will be bigger and deeper and better defensively and we will shoot the ball better.

Yes, depth does matter, contrary to what you might have seen last season. Remember we are going back to a single league this season. That means a long campaign of 40 games and the league will be THe one to win. I do not believe what you saw with Chester and their famous five last season will happen again.

I have seen a few comments about how strong Towers are looking. Has their recruitment surprised me? In a way it hasn't because last year was a bit of an embarrassment for them and they wanted to improve on that.

If anyone had been ready in the Southern Conferecne, including ourselves, the title would have been there for the taking.

However, I admit I am absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of money the Towers organisation is spending on guys. I was in negotiations with two of the players they have signed and the money Towers offered them far exceeds the budget I had in my time as coach there.

Towers want to dominate the league. They have talked about a clean sweep. Well bring them on. We expect to be their biggest rivals and vice versa. We expect them to fear us. It's a shame we won't be playing them at the Brighton Centre but that's the way it is.

I can reveal we have secured a fixture aginst top US college Duke at Crystal Palace as part of their flying visit to England. Tip-off is at the rather unusual time of 1pm on Monday, October 14, but if any of you are on a day-off I recommend you come and watch.

That will be our third game in three days but I am looking forward to taking on such a fine team and hopefully we can give them a good game.

We have lined up nine games for pre-season, including two tournaments in Portugal and one in Birmingham. These games will give us the solid foundation we were missing last year.

We lost our opening two games of last season against weaker sides simply because we were not ready in time. This year, when the first ball goes up, we will be six weeks ahead of where we were on the opening night last season.

While you are waiting for the new campaign, take a look at our website brightonbears.com which has had an overhaul recently. It is looking better than ever, a bit like the Brighton Bears will when I tell you who we have signed.

Nick Nurse is head coach of Brighton Bears Basketball Club. His column is brought to you in association with Specsavers, No. 1 for eye tests in Brighton and Hove