HEAD coach Ty Shaw admits Worcester Wolves are in the “holding pattern” waiting for American forward Deshawn Freeman to gain permission to land.

Wolves secured the signing of Freeman last week with the club confirming “disruptions in the visa process” had delayed Quadir Welton’s arrival.

Shaw said the capture of Freeman would be their third and final import, meaning Welton will not be joining Worcester.

But Shaw is now playing the waiting game again as Freeman looks to join the British Basketball League outfit.

Asked whether Freeman would be available for Wolves’ home clash with Manchester Giants on Friday (7.30pm), Shaw said: “I don’t know, it just depends.

“We are in the holding pattern as they say in flight terms.”

With Wolves still yet to complete their roster Shaw said it was taking a “tiny bit longer” than expected to get his players in a “settled” team but refused to use that as an excuse.

“We are now adding another piece (in Deshawn) so we will just continue to get to that whole point so we can build from there,” Shaw said.

“It is part of the process to get guys settled, get to know each other and feel the flow as you play. We will get to that point.

“It is just taking maybe a tiny bit longer than was expected but it is what it is and we are not going to make excuses about it.

“We are just going to play as hard as we can.”

Freeman graduated from Rutgers University last season where he captained Scarlett Knights, averaging 11.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals.

He will now make the move from Israel National League side Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin and Shaw said he would bring a “nice change of pace” to Wolves.

“Looking at the film, he plays with a lot of energy and intensity,” Shaw said.

“He is a good rebounder and comes from a very good college programme.

“The conference he has played in is probably one of the best in the United States.

“Hopefully he can be a spark and a guy that can do something at both ends of the court so it should be pretty exciting, “Hopefully it will allow guys to play in more natural positions so we will see when he gets here and gets comfortable.”

Shaw is also happy with the stature of Freeman who stands at 6ft 7in as he reckons he will have a “great effect”.

“I am sure most coaches want everybody to be as tall as they possibly can in every single position,” Shaw added.

“Height is one thing and it is good to have but it is tough to teach people how to play with heart.

“If you have guys that are like that and might be a little bit shorter I will take those over seven footers every day.”