AMES, Iowa – Craig Brackins and Lucca Staiger won’t be the only Cyclones looking to represent Iowa State at the international level this summer. ISU senior-to-be Jamie Vanderbeken, a 6-11 forward from Belleville, Ontario, Canada, has been invited to tryout for a spot on the 2009 Great Britain Senior men’s basketball team that will compete at the European Championships in September.
So how does a native Canadian who plays college hoops in the United States have a chance to the play for the Great Britain national team? Vanderbeken explains.
“My mother (Eleanor) is from Hamilton, Scotland, so I have dual citizenship in Canada and Great Britain,” says Vanderbeken.
The opportunity to play in the European Championships would be a huge benefit for Vanderbeken, who averaged 5.5 points and led the Cyclones in 3-point percentage (35-86 3FG; 40.7 percent) in his first season in Ames in 2008-09.
“It is a great opportunity,” Vanderbeken said. “Just being able to play on any national team would be a real honor. I am one of 24 players selected and I will go there and do my best.”
The European Senior Men’s Basketball Championships will take place in Warsaw, Poland in September. Vanderbeken will play against some top-notch competition in the tryouts. Chicago Bulls stars Ben Gordon and Luol Deng are on the Great Britain roster, as well as Toronto Raptors forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu.
“The tryouts are in London,” Vanderbeken said. “There are exhibition games in August. From what I understand it is a two-week camp, and if I make the team, there will be exhibition games leading up to the European Championships.”
Vanderbeken will have some familiarity at the tryouts. Iowa Energy head coach Nick Nurse, who spent a number of seasons coaching professionally in Great Britain, will be an assistant coach for the Brits. Nurse was a teammate with ISU head coach Greg McDermott at Northern Iowa.
