Ironi Nahariya signalled their ambition for the coming season by appointing European legend Mickey Berkovic as their general manager.

Nahariya had struggled to bring in foreign stars, with the war between Israel and Lebanon putting off potential recruits.

The 2.02m Canadian-Dominican center Juan Mendez, who averaged 23.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in his senior season with Niagara college two years ago, was the first to put pen to paper - on August 31.

		Young guard Raviv Limonad is looking for playing time with Nahariya

But Berkovic has already proved his worth to his new club, completing the roster within two weeks.

Jeff Greer arrived after two years with 2004 French champions Strasbourg, and combo-guard Gerrod Hendersen joined after splitting his last four seasons between clubs in Serbia and Greece.

Only two of the mentioned three will participate in the EuroCup, though, with just two foreigners permitted to play.

The final foreign addition is Croatian Vedran Vukusic, a big forward with great ability at shooting from distance.

Nahariya have also done a good job in building their Israeli roster.

Arriel Beit Halechmi, who prevailed with Ironi Ashkelon over Nahariya in a quarter-finals series two years ago, took over the coaching role from Avi Ashkenazi, the boss of Nahariya since their return to the Israeli top flight in 2003.

The Israeli trio of guard Amit Ben David, wing Barak Peleg and power forward Uri Kukia committed themselves to Nahariya for a further season.

Two promising additions - Ido Kozikaro and Raviv Limonad - arrived on the back of three-year spells with Hapoel Jerusalem.

Kozikaro, an inspirational power forward, will add a physical presence and bags of experience to the Nahariya squad.

Limonad, a powerful young combo-guard, will aim to make his breakthrough with his new club after spending more time on the bench than the floor in Jerusalem.

Both players have big-game experience under their belts from playing with the national team and winning the ULEB Cup title in 2004.

Nahariya, a club who for two years running came within a game of making it to the EuroCup Final Four, disappointed last season when they failed to survive the group phase.

The new staff and roster are aiming to bring back the good times to the Nahariya fans this season - starting with the EuroCup Group A opener in Dijon on November 7.