Glasgow Rocks skipper Rob Yanders reassures fans ahead of BBL tip-off

Sep 24 2009 By Matthew Leslie

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"I'M proud to be a Rock" says Rob Yanders' ahead of Sunday's basketball season opener against Newcastle Eagles.

The Milwaukee man came close to leaving the club this summer after contract talks broke down but decided to stay on once they were revived.

In fact, Yanders could still have been at the Kelvin Hall this weekend but lining up for Rocks' deadly rivals Newcastle who tried to whisk him away to Tyneside.

Rob said: "To be honest, the Newcastle thing was a very serious negotiation and I could have easily signed for them.

"They were very interested in me and their offer came at the same time as the Rocks' final one.

"I had a 24-hour window to choose between the two and obviously I decided to sign on for the Rocks.

"Newcastle is a great organisation with a winning tradition and a strong community programme.

"But at the end of the day, I'm a Rock.

"I've been at this club for the past four years and I've worked hard for them and will continue to do so in order to bring the success that this club and the fans deserve.

"I'd like to assure the fans that it was nothing personal but just business which both parties fully understood.

"It's a new season, I'm here for the year - and more importantly, I know I'm here for that year - and we've got a lot of good players here who I'm sure will help us to compete.

"Me and Sterling had a sitdown and talked about a lot of important things including what we wanted for the club.

"Both of us agreed that we wanted the club to progress in the same direction and it all worked out well."

When original talks had broken down, Yanders had flogged his prized TV thinking he wouldn't be back.

He laughed: "Don't worry, I've got myself a new TV.

"In fact I have three of them with one being a 52 inch flatscreen.

"There were a lot of emotions going on as last season was poor so some things spilled out but that's over and done with and now we're looking forward."