Panthers’ National League squad seriously bolstered with imminent arrival of Ashu and DiRienzo

PORTLAOISE Panthers have seriously bolstered their men’s squad ahead of the 2026/27 National League season with the return of forward, Rich Ashu and the arrival of Tommy DiRienzo from Team NorthWest.

Ashu joined Panthers last summer and was enjoying a tremendous run with the team right up until the opening game of the National Cup at home to Limerick Sport Eagles in November when he tore his patella tendon early in the third quarter.

It was a devastating blow, both for the player and team, which had won all of their previous six league games in the lead-up to that cup tie, including a victory over Limerick in the league just the week before when Ashu had carded a double double of 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Indeed, the loss of Ashu, who had only just scooped the Basketball Ireland ‘National League Division One Player of the Month’ Award for October, had an immediate impact on the team, as they exited the cup and narrowly missed out on the play-offs later that season.

His return is a major boost for the young Portlaoise squad, and Ashu is delighted to have been given an opportunity to return to the National League after a long and hard road to recovery.

“I feel very blessed and I'm very thankful for their faith in me” he told the Laois Nationalist. “I'm very excited to be coming back to Portlaoise, because I feel like there was a lot of unfinished business after last season.

“I tore my patella tendon, but I was very lucky that my ACL and MCL were still intact. In many ways, it’s been very frustrating. There have been a lot of steps towards recovery.

“The first month or so it was basically just rest and doing simple stuff and then building up coordination and strength.

“Since I've been cleared by my physiotherapist, I've done a lot more. I've been working with a couple of my previous coaches and a couple of trainers as well, but it's just really been me putting in the work.

“I would say that I'm at around 95 per cent for sure, but I feel very good, even though the season's about two months out.

“I know I’ve still got some work to do to get to that 100 per cent, but I know by the time the season comes about, I'll definitely be ready,” he stressed.

While he will be competing under a new coach at Portlaoise, Ciaran Kiveney, following Jack Scully’s decision to step down at the end of last season, Ashu is looking forward to again helping spearhead a Panthers offence that is sure to prove a threat for any team in the league.

“I'm very excited. I had a good talk with coach Kiveney and he told me about a lot of the very good young players that he has and the vision he has for them,” said Ashu.

“I think, with the competitiveness that I bring to the team, it's going be very fun bringing these young players on.

“The league is very talented, for sure, but I'm confident in my skill set. I'm a competitor through and through, so I'm very excited to be back and playing, and I feel that, me knowing the league when coming back is huge, and I'm definitely going to use that experience to my advantage,” he insisted.

Certainly new Portlaoise boss, Kiveney is delighted to have Ashu back on board with the squad ahead of the new league campaign, telling the Laois Nationalist: "Getting Rich back for us is massive. He's an immense talent. He's athletic, he's intelligent, he's everything you'd look for in a big player.

“Our team manager, Mark Dwyer has been in contact with Rich, almost on a fortnightly basis since the injury, keeping up to date with how he is. Everyone in the club liked him so much, and we just really wanted to make sure he was doing okay.

“When we started to see videos being sent through of him doing workouts and starting to play some scrimmage matches, we were delighted, first of all for him, but also, we were looking at rolling it back and giving it a year two to show everyone just what Rich would have done had last year not happened.

“So we’re absolutely delighted to have him coming back to Portlaoise. It’s a massive boost for everyone in the squad,” he said.

Kiveney is also delighted to have secured the services of Pittsburgh man, Tommy DiRienzo, whose versatility on the floor will afford the Panthers coach no shortage of options.

Having finished last season with a huge 28-point average for Team NorthWest, the American has already underscored his ability in attack, but Kiveney also hugely appreciates his defensive attributes.

“We're delighted to have Tommy coming in with us,” said Kiveney. “He played last year with Team Northwest, and although the team itself didn't have a great season, Tommy showed just how good he is.

“He can do a bit of everything. He's a great shooter, he can get downhill, he's strong, and, especially with Rich and his strength and athleticism, we just feel the two players together are going to be phenomenal, along with the rest of our Irish players.

“Tommy’s predominantly, a scorer, but he's also a phenomenal defender. With Tommy, we lucked out, because he's got the potential to be one of the best defenders in the league, as well as one of the best scorers, which is exactly what we were looking for,” he said.