WORCESTER Wolves are relishing the prospect of playing on what director of basketball Paul James has described as the best court in the country.

There is now just a little under three weeks before Wolves take to the floor in their new £15million University Arena home when British Basketball League champions Leicester Riders visit on Friday, October 4.

Having originally hoped to have finished last season in the Hylton Road venue, everyone connected with the club is champing at the bit.

It is a new-look Wolves team that will be lining up in the arena following a summer of change and James hopes he is building a side to match their illustrious surroundings.

“It’s amazing that it’s actually happening now,” he said.

“We have had a couple of games behind closed doors with other teams just for the guys to get a feel for the court.

“The players are really excited about the fact we can come into the arena and train on what is probably going to be the best court in the country.

“What we want to do now is make sure that we’ve got a very competitive team on the floor collectively to go with this fantastic facility.”

The court at the arena is slightly bigger than the one at the sports hall on the University of Worcester’s St John’s campus but the players are beginning to adjust following warm-up matches against Reading Rockets and Birmingham Knights, both of which Wolves won.

“We have got a maximum sized court with plenty of run-offs,” James said. “They need to get used to the bigger space that we have on the court to play in so we can spread our offense a little bit more, and we have got to cover a bit more ground on defence.

“It bodes well for us but it is a little bit different — the whole atmosphere is different.”