The basketball nomad's suitcase is never long unpacked.
Contracts that last short of a year come with a multitude of escape clauses that make for a precarious existence. In two years as a professional, Jamie Vanderbeken has played in six different countries and learned that long-term planning is futile. Sign on, file out, move on. C'est la vie.
In Glasgow, the Canadian has found what almost resembles a home. Rescued from unemployment in mid-season after a brief, fruitless stint in Uruguay, the 2.10m centre signed with the Rocks and returned to a city he had visited as a child. His mother, Eleanor, had once brought her son back to her birthplace in Hamilton and to the family she had left behind. Two decades on, he was finally fulfilling a promise to return.
When Vanderbeken lines up today at the Emirates Arena for the first leg of his team's BBL play-off quarter-final against Plymouth Raiders, he will have his own private fan club. "It means a lot, just to have their support in the stands," he said. "And to be able to go to their place, to get away from basketball and everything for a bit. When you're overseas, family is the one thing you really miss. So I've been fortunate to come to Glasgow and have that on hand."
He quickly settled, on and off the court, and established himself in player-coach Sterling Davis' starting line-up, helping the Rocks to surge from mid-table to third place in the final British Basketball League standings. But arriving here, he had little idea of what to expect, or how it would compare to past stops in Greece and in the NBA's second tier D-League.
"You just need to be prepared to deal with anything," he said. "I had no idea what they wanted from me, if I'd be a role player or starting every night. You just have to keep working, doing what you do best and then hope that will get you somewhere."
Four years ago, while still in university in Iowa, he was offered an opportunity to represent Great Britain, courtesy of his mother's citizenship. With the Olympics on the horizon, it was a tantalising option. On the opening day of training camp, Vanderbeken sustained a broken foot and was sent home. A renewed invite, he admitted, might be spurned. "I played with Canada last summer so that door might be closed," he said. "I think that's where my heart lies now." As well as in Glasgow.
The Rocks will travel to Plymouth for tomorrow's second leg. The losers will start their holiday, while the winners survive for another weekend, their hopes of reaching Wembley in a fortnight intact. "You want to win every game but at the end of the season, you want some silverware," the Rocks giant said. "I think we're peaking at the right time. There are a few things to work on, but this feels like a championship team."
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