Nick Nurse is preparing to trawl one of America's top summer leagues for potential new Brighton Bears stars.

The Bears chief has taken up a role as assistant coach at Oklahoma Storm in the USBL.

He flies out this week in time to work with head coach Bryan Gates at the season-opener against Kansas City Cagerz on Friday.

Storm's regular season ends on June 18 and, even if they make the play-offs, Nurse will have plenty of time to fly back to Brighton and build his team for the 2005-06 BBL season.

Nurse said: "The timing fits in really nicely.

"This gives me a great chance to familiarise myself with a number of quality American players in the league."

Three years ago Randy Duck and Sterling Davis enjoyed a successful summer with Storm, helping them win the USBL play-offs before returning to action with the Bears.

Storm took two forwards from Oklahoma State, one of the nation's top colleges, in the recent USBL draft.

Nurse and his men will be throwing their support behind London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games today.

The Bears will jump through an electronic arch in Hove to register their backing for the bid.

A total of 486,000 people have already passed through the arch across the country and Nurse said: "As ambassadors for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games bid we are only too pleased to lend our support.

"Brighton Bears are fully behind the bid because hosting the world's biggest sporting event would be exciting for the whole country and a tremendous boost for the thousands of people who support basketball to see the best players in the world competing in the capital."