Current fifth in Jeep Elite, with 16 wins for 8 losses, Bourg-en-Bresse has decided to call on a medical freelancer to finish the season. Following the injuries of Zack Wright and Codi Miller-McIntyre, the Ain club has indeed recruited Pierre Jackson, a 28-year-old leader well known in Europe. The native of Las Vegas, drafted in 42nd by Philadelphia in 2013, finally played only 8 games in the NBA, with Dallas in 2016-17, and went through Fenerbahçe, Cedevita Zagreb, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Panathinaikos , where he signed last August but only played one game. Also passed by China and the G-League, Pierre Jackson had signed with ASVEL in 2013 but had left the team quickly without playing an official match. At his last two clubs, Shenzhen and the South Bay Lakers, he averaged 23 and 20.8 points respectively. With Bourg, he will try to shine in the last ten regular season games, in order to qualify the Ain club for the Final Eight set up to replace the play-offs this season. The JL are currently four wins ahead of ninth-placed Orleans, who have played one game less. Bourg still have to face Boulazac, ASVEL, Le Portel, Monaco (twice), Cholet, Strasbourg (twice), Dijon and Châlons-Reims to end the season.
Riley returns to France
The other transfer of the day in French basketball is the arrival of Mykal Riley from Les Sables d’Olonne, a National 1 club (the third division), next season. The 35-year-old full-back (or winger) notably marked the Nanterre club, where he spent six seasons (2009-12 then 2014-17), and won a title of French Pro B champion in 2011, the Eurochallenge 2015, Coupe de France and FIBA Europe Cup 2017. He also wore the colors of Chalon, Le Mans and Dijon, and spent the last two seasons in Turkey and in Spanish D2.