College Sports

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

As the spring signing period commenced for basketball on Wednesday morning, Jamie Vanderbeken received high praise for what he has done in the past, and what he's expected to do in the future.

The Tyler Junior College sophomore, who signed with Iowa State of the Big 12, improved more over two seasons than any player Mike Marquis has coached at TJC or elsewhere.

Marquis added that the 6-10, 240-pound Vanderbeken played a stretch of conference games this past season at an MVP level in helping the Apaches win the Region XIV regular-season title.

Greg McDermott, the head coach at Iowa State, was quoted on the university's athletic Web site as saying Vanderbeken "will be one of the best 3-point shooting big men in the country."

The big Canadian kept his options open during the recruiting process - he returned Monday from an official visit to Connecticut - but in the end the choice was clear.

"(Iowa State) recruited me the hardest out of the other schools that were talking to me," Vanderbeken told the Tyler Morning Telegraph at Wagstaff Gymnasium. "I feel I've got a good relationship with the coaches there, and the fan support in Ames (Iowa) is ridiculous. They almost always sell out every home game. It's where I felt that I could go in and help right away."

He had been recruited by Iowa State since October.

"The head coach came down multiple times ... and the assistant coach was down here more times than that," he said. "I felt I was a priority for them."

Vanderbeken played post for the Apaches, but he also liked to step outside and shoot the 3-pointer. He did that quite well as he was second on the team with 40 3-pointers while leading the Apaches in overall field-goal percentage.

He said the graduation of 6-11, 240-pound senior Jiri Hubalek, who averaged 12.4 points per game for the Cyclones, creates an opportunity for immediate playing time.

"They are light up front right now - they don't have that many bigs," said Vanderbeken, who averaged 14.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks as a sophomore.

He is also comfortable with how Iowa State plans to use him. It's familiar.

"With their offense, there's a lot of motion ... pick-and-pop, high-lows, that's what suits me best," Vanderbeken said. "That's the type of player I am. I'm not a smasher down low, I'm a guy who can stretch the (defense), handle the ball a little bit (and score inside and out)."

Between now and August, Vanderbeken said he will make a concerted effort to get stronger by hitting the weight room. On the court, he's going to stress becoming a better defender.

Smoke Signals: Vanderbeken has been selected to play in the NJCAA Division I All-Star Game on Sunday at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College. Eric Tramiel of Paris Junior College was the only other Region XIV player chosen. ... Iowa State finished 11th in the Big 12 this past season. The Cyclones were 14-18 overall and 4-12 in league play. All but two of their wins came at home. They lost to Texas A&M, 60-47, in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.

TJC’S Jamie Vanderbeken (middle) is mobbed by teammates after signing a basketball scholarship with Iowa State on Wednesday.
(Staff Photo By Joe Buie)