In the spring of 2008, Huggins brought an end to his remarkable career and, arguably, it will be many years before any British player can match the achievements and longevity that the popular Londoner enjoyed in over two decades at the top level of the sport.

A 6’7” forward, Huggins was playing for the Thames Valley Tigers in the British Basketball League prior to moving to Hawaii where he played his college basketball at the University of Hawaii Pacific. A try-out followed with the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics after graduation in 1993 although Huggins himself would later confess that he was overwhelmed by the event and failed to do himself justice.

Instead, Huggins went on to play for the next 15 seasons at the top level of European basketball, as well as winning 76 caps for England and making a huge contribution on the GB squads of 2006 and 2007.

A season in Belgium with Ghent was followed by three wildly successful years at the Sheffield Sharks, as a team mate of GB coach Chris Finch, in which Huggins assured himself of a position as one of the most popular British players of all time.

When Huggins left for Belgium again, in the summer of 1997, it was for Antwerp and the bulk of his remaining years in the game would be spent in that country, with Ieper, Charleroi, Liege, Bree and Mons – the last two of which would see him play for Finch.

In between, there were also short-term spells in the high-pressure Israeli league with Hapoel Jerusalem and Bnei Hasharon as Huggins found himself in demand towards the end of every season when teams were looking for short-term signings to strengthen their rosters ahead of domestic play-offs. Little wonder Huggins ended his career with a vast array of honours from Belgian, Israeli and, also, European competition.

Although Huggins insisted he had long retired from international basketball, he happily responded to Finch’s call to join the newly re-formed GB squad in 2006 and played a huge part over the next two summers as the team won its place in the A Division of Eurobasket.

Chris Finch says: “A great servant of the programme, Roger answered the call in our first year, even though he had retired. We desperately needed his talent and experience and he came through for us. I think Roger might be the most under-appreciated player Britain has ever produced. When people talk about the country’s best-ever players, Roger should be in that discussion.”