New boy Evaldas Zabas is relishing life with open-minded Worthing Thunder after walking out on the team that was told it was too white.

Zabas voted, along with team mates, to go on strike at Worcester Wolves after coach Chuck Evans told his stunned squad that their white players were too soft.

Now, after being sacked by Wolves and considering legal action, the 21-year-old Lithuanian guard has opted to sever all ties with the club and join their BBL rivals at Thunder.

He makes his debut at home to Leicester tomorrow (7pm) as the latest addition to a multi-national Thunder set-up.

Zabas has revealed how players’ jaws dropped in amazement as Evans put Worcester’s recent defeats to Chester and Newcastle down to a lack of black players.

In a report of a team meeting, players quote Evans as telling them: “Looking at the last two teams that we have lost to, Newcastle and Chester, they were mainly black guys and I just think we have too many white guys on the team who are not tough enough and too soft.”

The players say Evans then added: “I should have recognised a long time ago that you white guys are not tough enough. I’m just calling it like I see it.”

Evans has since admitted discussing race with the team but denies being a racist. He has left the club, whose December fixtures were all postponed to help them sort out their affairs.

Former Thames Valley and Guildford coach Paul James has taken over team affairs.

Zabas said: “It was a couple of days after a game. We came into the room like we always do to watch the game tape.

“Each week there had been some problems.

“The coach had been saying he had figured out what the problem was but didn’t say any more.

“We thought it was all about basketball, nothing to do with race.

“It all went to another level when he brought that up.

“Everybody’s mouths just dropped open.

“I just put my earphones on, put my hoody up and stopped listening. All respect went out of the window.

“We were putting up with the basketball stuff even though he was putting us down. When it went personal everything changed. White and black players agreed that should not be happening.”

Although Zabas voted to go on strike and was subsequently sacked, he will not be taking the matter further.

He said: “I thought ‘I’m too young for all this, I just want to hoop’ so I got out of it.

“Some of the guys are considering taking legal action but that will take up another month of the season. I want to play.”

Zabas immediately emailed other BBL clubs and his move to Thunder was aided by a recommendation from their former assistant coach Chris Mayes.

Thunder’s new boy can play either guard spot and was born and brought up in Vilnius, attending the famed Sarunas Marciulonis basketball school.

He moved to Toronto with his family at the age of 15 and helped Lithuania under-20s to second place in the 2008 European Championships before signing for top flight German outfit Bremerhaven last season.

His ten games for Worcester saw him average 19.8 points, shooting exactly 50% from three-point range.

He favours the point guard spot and reckons the big move he made across the Atlantic as a schoolboy can help him deal with recent upheavals.

The 6ft 2in sharpshooter said: “It’s awesome to meet new friends and hoop with them.

“I feel I can slot in really quick and I’m looking forward to getting back on court.”

Zabas’s arrival sees under-performing Bulgarian forward Pepe Zafirov leave the club.