"My captain, my hero": Rodney Glasgow Jnr on Sheffield Sharks legend Mike Tuck and his own future

A host of former Sharks and British basketball league players will turn out to honour Tuck at his testimonial at the Canon Medical Arena on Saturday night (8pm).

The showpiece game comes two years after the 41-year-old Canadian-born power forward called time on his playing career, the last 13 of which were spent in a Sharks vest.

Before moving on to a full-time role in the club’s front office as marketing manager, Tuck handed over captaincy duties to Glasgow.

Now 31, the point guard from Brooklyn is in awe of Tuck’s service to the club, and acknowledges that even though his three-plus seasons with the Sharks bucks the trend of a sport in which players traditionally move on after a year, Tuck’s longevity is commendable.

“What Mike has achieved is getting rarer in today’s game, you’ve got a lot of player movement all across Europe,” said Glasgow.

“It’s not like it used to be. I’m happy for Tuck. He was my captain, his loyalty and his hard work were inspiring. He achieved so much in 13 years and I’m glad that we are giving him a proper send-off.

“I’ve learned a lot from him and I’m so happy that he’s in the organisation still. It’s a credit to our organisation how we take care of players.”

Glasgow witnessed that first hand last season when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon while practising back home in the summer.

In the middle of a three-year contract, he had the comfort to know he had a team that would support him through the surgery and rehabilitation.

After making it back onto the court before Christmas last year Glasgow wants to repay the Sharks for their loyalty in him not only this season, but for as long as they will have him.

“This has become family to me now, this is more than just me playing for an organisation,” he said.

“I live in Sheffield now and when the injury happened last year Sarah (Backovic - chief executive), Atiba (Lyons - head coach) and all the coaches supported me and just told me get healthy and we’ll have your back, so I’m forever loyal to them.

“Stability is everything, family is everything at this point in my career. I’m 31, so I want to make sure I’ve found a home, which I have, it’s only right that you pay that respect back on the court and off the court with my hard work and my dedication.”

Tickets for Tuck’s testimonial are available at sheffieldsharks.co.uk