Fearne was coaching at the Worldwide Invitational in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. So he'd be scouting those players in addition to the NBA Summer League as well. You can check out the roster at http://www.wsminvitational.com/2017-rosters-2/

You won't have to wait long.

Fearnie will be playing his cards pretty close to his chest, as usual. He'll be trying not to let Bullets, United or Perth staff know who he's recruiting, because they will do their usual trick of waiting to see who he wants, then offering them more money.

This is not a knock on Perth, Melbourne or Brisbane - it makes sense to use the resources you have to the betterment of your team - rather, it's a nod to the recognition of Fearne's ability to spot talent (only to have it stolen away by richer teams!!!)

... and my tongue is fairly firmly planted in my cheek; you must never take these words too seriously

Having a quick look at Fearne's team for the invitational, I'm liking the look of Marek Klassen. He's a 6'1" (185cm) PG from Canada, who's most recently played in the British Basketball League. His last season there, he averaged 12.5 ppg, 6.2 apg and 4.1rpg. I know British Basketball League's not a great rap for a player, but he has sweet passing ability, a solid handle, he's busy on defence (which Fearne loves) and he has a good looking J, with good range. He's not afraid to put it up in the face of bigger guys at the 3 or in the lane. And did I mention his sweet passing?
He looks all right in orange, too.
Here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzO0ciOQ0-8

Daniel Jansen (6'9", or 206cm) PF played for Limburg United in the Belgian League in 16/17 after a college career at Augustana University (NCAA Div II), finishing first all-time in games played (started 128 of 130 games played), points scored, free throws made and a bunch of other stats. In 2015-16, Jansen averaged 20.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. My draft report from the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThyXVIZrL0M is that he seems to have a Cameron Tragardh approach to jumping. It also looks like he's a bit of a black hole, offensively. May not be the man.

I didn't get much gen on Brandon Brown, a 5'11 (180cm) PG who has bounced around various leagues, including a stint with the Mount Gambier Pioneers.

Luke Petrasek is a 6'10 (208cm) lefty PF with length and athleticism, who could be a very good player over time, but is too much of a project in the short term for Fearne to be contemplating him as a starting 4. Columbia is a Div I team. Petrasek was all Ivy-League 2nd team.

I've only looked at the 1s and 4s on the roster, as that's all the Snakes will be looking at.

^Anon 640793, granted, it's not the same as the NBL, as per my comment. He will be a great facilitator, though. Did you watch the vid? Also, he'll find it easy to make some 3s in Fearne's system.

Marcus Paige? At 6'0 or 6'1, he wants to be a point guard. Averages 12.1 ppg and 2.2 apg in the D-League. I hope he's not our guy!

I'm thinking the Taipans need 2 very good imports similar in ability to the WilbekinCraig combo Fearne recruited a few years ago.

@Twinkletoes is correct. It remains to be seen what sort of roles Kuany Kuany and Damon Heuir will have, but the Snakes will need big contributions from our import 1 and import 4.

Thinking a bit more about my previous enthusiasm for Marek Klassen... I'm less enthused than I was.

Klassen/Weeks/Heuir
Gliddon/Kuany/Heuir
McCarron/Kuany
Import/Loughton
Jawai/Egwu

It looks a bit thin on the scoring front. Then again, it's a Fearne team. He only ever expects them to score 50, and keep the other team to less than that, so we should be ok. ;D

Guess you're gonna find out tomorrow morning :)

@GordonG, don't be a smarty pants! If you know something, spill the beans!

Hahaha that's gotta be in the top 10 worst Anon posts of all time.

My guess is it's the guy who's sat next to Fearney right now at the Marlins logan game

A black guy in his early 20s

hahahaha Guess Who with CT is my favourite game.

He's wearing a Virginia cavaliers shirt

is he wearing an eye patch?

He's just taken it off

Holy shit he's got a mankini on underneath. Fearney does NOT approve..

haha the only other VC i know of is Rick Carlisle, and he's further away from 20 than he is from matching complexions.

Okay, FWIW when I wrote the above post (and note that I use my name, I don't hide...) I knew no more than anyone else who had read the email from the Taipans office to all corporate members saying "The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans have signed their second import for the upcoming 2017/18 NBL season and will be announcing the new point guard tomorrow morning."

After being at QBL tonight, the only other thing I am prepared to say is "none of the above".

The conspiracy nuts amongst you could just take a look at gordong's photos from last night on his website, gordong.com. You can then try and work out if scoochie Smith is indeed the mysterious guy in the background of some of the pics (e.g. #610) or a candidate for the second import spot. And if you see Elvis in any of those pics too please let me know.

"Snakes sign Scoochie Smith
IN what is set to be the most memorable name of the 2017/18 NBL season - the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans are excited to announce that SCOOCHIE SMITH will be joining their roster.
Dayshon "Scoochie" Smith is a dynamic 6'2” point guard that will join the Far North Queensland franchise for his first professional playing contract, after earning an NBA Summer League call-up with the Boston Celtics following college.
“As a coach, you’re always watching games on TV and people catch your eye. I first noticed Scoochie in his senior year at Dayton - and watched him throughout the college season and NCAA tournament,” said CQUniversity Cairns Taipans Head Coach Aaron Fearne.
“Then he played Summer League with the Boston Celtics – he started out in Utah, but I watched him when I was in Vegas. It was good to see him playing in that environment. We liked his size and his ability to run a team."
Smith played for the Dayton University Flyers, where the floor general was the only three-time captain in their basketball history, and played in all 136 games of his collegiate career.
He was named to the All-Atlantic 10 first-team and was part of the winningest class in school history, making four NCAA tournament appearances.
Smith was also the only member on the team to start in all 32 games as a senior, where he led the team in minutes, assists (4.5) and steals (51).
“Playing college basketball in the US compared to playing internationally is a whole new ball game. But, Scoochie would’ve experienced a different level at Summer League – the Celtics are a fantastic franchise and it’s not easy to make their roster. They obviously saw some things they liked in him too,” said Fearne.
“Just like every other point guard in the League, they need to have the ability to run the team but also make plays. He can shoot the ball, get on the rim and he can defend.”
Currently based in New York, the 22-year old will arrive in Cairns ahead of the Taipans official pre-season as the second import alongside Nnanna Egwu, and recent newcomer Kuany Kuany.
“Scoochie will compliment what we’ve got so far. Along with the addition of Kuany - who’s done a great job with the Marlins to date, and also Nnanna who we re-signed as soon as possible, I think he’ll be a great fit for our culture,” said Fearne.
“He will join us for the pre-season which will give him the opportunity to experience the expectations of our play, and the responsibilities that he will have. There will be some learning and some challenges first up, but we’ll prepare him as well as we can, leading into the NBL season.”"

And the gentleman referred to in the box with Fearney is from the US, checking out one of our younger players.