Jamie Vanderbeken has turned down the chance to represent Canada, the home of his birth and the land in which he was brought up, to play for Great Britain.

The 21-year-old center, who plays in the NCAA for Iowa State, qualifies to suit up for Britain through his Scottish grandmother and hopes to represent his adopted country at the 2009 Eurobasket tournament in Poland.

Vanderbeken is no certainty to make the British roster, with center one of their strengths thanks to former NBAers Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Robbie Archibald, but he is happy to commit his future to them rather than Canada.

Britain take on Poland, Israel and Turkey in a forthcoming warm-up event, but tougher tests lie ahead in Poland later this year in their debut at EuroBasket, where Spain will be their first opponent.

Spain is the silver medalists from the 2008 Olympic Games.

Although Britain will not have Luol Deng or Ben Gordon this year, they have both committed themselves for the future, and coach Chris Finch’s team has plenty to look forward to if they can qualify for 2012.

As for Vanderbeken, he was the Cyclones leading reserve last season as a junior and you can bet that plenty more is expected of him in 2009/10 where despite his size, three-point shooting is one of his strengths.

If he can continue to progress, it’s just another string to the British bow.

“Even if I don’t make it, the competition I’ll be playing against in tryouts alone will be beneficial to bring what I learned back here,” Vanderbeken recently told GoCyclones.com.

“It’ll give me a chance, if I have questions, to ask guys about it. Pops, Archibald, a bunch of other guys who played in the U.S. and Europe.”