READING Rockets have made a double signing ahead of the start of their pre-season by bringing American combo guard Craig Ponder and Bulgarian Paulin Jardim to the club.

Ponder joins the Rockets having played at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks, an NCAA Division One college playing in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

The West Virginia native played in a programme-record 130 games during five seasons and finished 12th on the all-time list with 1,160 points.

He averaged 11.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 44 per cent shooting last season to help the Seahawks win 25 games and a Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title.

The 6ft 1in 22-year-old is excited to travel abroad to get his professional career started and is looking forward to arriving in Reading later this month.

He said: “I couldn’t be more proud of myself and thankful for everyone who’s helped me along the way to get me to this point.

“I can’t be complacent and slack up on my work ethic now that I know I have a deal sorted.

“I’ve got to keep working as if I didn’t have one and help my new teammates in Reading achieve something big. I am really looking forward to getting started and showing what I can do in what I hope is a great first season of my professional career.”

Rockets have also captured Bulgarian under-20 international Jardim.

The 6ft 3in guard joins the Berkshire club from Tundja Yambol BC in Bulgaria, and will join up with the Reading outfit having represented his national team at the U20 European Championships in Chalked, Greece, last month.

The Sofia native was on trial with Rockets during the post-season and impressed the coaching staff during his time in Reading, with head coach Manuel Pena Garces deciding on recruiting the shooting guard to his team for the 2016/2017 season.

In speaking about the double swoop, Pena Garces admitted he is delighted to add what he feels are two quality players to his back court.

Returning from a month with the Spanish Basketball Federation, he revealed: “I am really pleased to bring Craig (Ponder) and Paulin (Jardim) to Reading and I think we have got two versatile and different players to add to our roster.

“Craig is a combo guard who will provide us with a real threat from the perimeter and coming straight out of college, he will be really eager to work hard and show what he can do and how he can contribute to his new team.

“I really like what I have seen so far and I am looking forward to Craig arriving here in England.”

About his second signing, the Spaniard continued: “Paulin is a really good, young talent, who we feel has a lot more potential and someone who we can continue to develop further.

“He was with us for a short time during the post-season and we liked what we saw, so it made sense to invest in a player we feel will also contribute during the season.”

He added: “Paulin is another good addition to our back court and I feel we have a nicely balanced team as it stands.

“Maybe we are one player short from being complete but let’s see what happens – as it stands I am very happy with what we have to work with and I can’t wait to get started with this group.”

Rockets returned to pre-season training on Monday and showed plenty of potential despite trailing 52-31 at half time and ultimately losing 92-55 to Seattle University from the United States in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the John Madejski Academy on Tuesday.

The Rivermead outfit’s next game takes place on Sunday, September 4 as they travel to the south-west to take on BBL team Plymouth Raiders before hosting Team USA Select four days later in the teams’ annual friendly.