Basketball Academy

We've teamed up with the country's most successful team in British basketball, the Newcastle Eagles, to give talented players the chance to bring out the best in their basketball performance while studying at the college.

Not only do we deliver our Basketball Academy in partnership with the Eagles, but our Head Coach is also the Eagles legend Drew Lasker.

You can study any of our full time school leaver programmes in sport or any other subject, including A Levels and become a member of our Basketball Academy.

You’ll develop the knowledge and expertise you need to go on to university or straight into work or an apprenticeship and gain a nationally recognised qualification whilst training and competing every week to develop your basketball skills.

Roll of Honour

Themba Yabantu, Sauveur Kande and Sean Murphy all play for the Newcastle Eagles first team (202/21)
Winners of the AoC Sport North East League (2011/12, 2013/14 & 2015/16)
5th place Academy Basketball League ABL finish (2015/16)
14 students have played for Newcastle Eagles U18
Students have played for Newcastle Eagles II team
AOC Champions 2021/22

“I cannot recommend Gateshead College enough to athletes wanting to take their sport further. I now have a scholarship place in the USA.”

Joe Drady Arlington Country Day School, Florida

Basketball Academy Coach

Drew Lasker

Drew is a retired professional basketball player of 16 years. Drew began his career with the Plymouth Raiders and finished his career with the Newcastle Eagles. In his 8 seasons with Newcastle, he has won a total of 10 Titles. During the offseason, Drew resides in his hometown of Katy, Texas.

He attended Katy High School ’00 where he was a two-year Varsity letterman on the Men’s basketball team. Following High School he was able to continue his basketball career at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California where he was entered into the school's Hall of Fame in November 2018. During his time there, Drew was a 3-time All GSAC and 2-time NAIA All American.

After Drew received his degree in Business Administration, he went on to pursue his dream of playing professional basketball. Drew toured with Athletes in Action before signing his first professional contract in 2005 with the Plymouth Raiders. Drew suited up for the Raiders for 6 seasons playing in the British Basketball League, in which he helped capture Plymouth’s first Trophy title in 2007. During that spell he was a two-time BBL All Star and departed in 2013 as the club’s All Time leading scorer.

In the prime of his basketball career, Drew started Drew’s Basketball Skill Development, also known as DBSD training, in 2007. Over the years the program has grown to have over 100 clients. The program’s motto is to ‘Train Harder’ in which the goal is to help athletes reach their full potential by a holistic coaching philosophy. Through hard work and dedication, DBSD guarantees to take your game to the next level!

In March 2018 Drew represented England at the Commonwealth games in the Gold Coast. Drew also has a MSc from Northumbria University in Professional Sports Coaching. Alongside coaching at Gateshead, Drew also presents for Sky Sports and co-hosts the British Basketball League Show.