CLIFTON Moore Jr, 24, a stand-out member of Caledonia Gladiators, the professional basketball club based in East Kilbride, was given a warm welcome last week when he visited one of his sponsors, Dougall Baillie Associates, one of the largest independent engineering consultancy firms in Scotland.

The Gladiators are the only Scottish team in the British Basketball League – the top tier of the game in the UK – and by his impressive versatility as a centre, 6ft 11in Clifton has already made a huge contribution to the team’s successes.

He and the team play at the Playsport Arena in East Kilbride, which has ambitious plans to build a new 6,000-seater arena when it outgrows the current, recently constructed, 1,500-seater. East Kilbride-headquartered DBA also has a history with Playsport, where it was involved in the original construction of the golf course.

Fergus Adams, Managing Director of Dougall Baillie Associates, said: “It has always been a given in our business that when we see talent, we go out of our way to encourage it to reach its full potential.

“That is why we are proud to be sponsoring for an entire season, which also happens to be his debut professional season, one of the rising sporting stars of his generation – the immensely talented Clifton Moore Jr, centre for the fantastic Caledonia Gladiators.

“Why Clifton? It’s simple. We pride ourselves in supporting young, up-and-coming talent, whether in Civil Engineering or in sport. We already sponsor Joe Wilton, goalie for Largs Thistle, and Glasgow Riders junior cycling club. We have also supported GHA Junior Rugby over a number of seasons.

“Clifton is in his first season at the Gladiators and looks to be a great find. He was interviewed on Sky Sports recently after being the stand-out player in the first half. It was bizarre seeing the DBA logo on Sky Sports. A very proud moment for us.”

During his visit to the company’s Glenfield Road offices Clifton was surrounded by a squad of admiring supporters at DBA, answered questions and signed autographs, as well as having his picture taken standing next to recently qualified DBA graduate engineer, Megan McGaw, who stands all of 5 foot 2 inches tall.

Clifton said: “It was a great pleasure to meet the DBA team in person to thanks them for the generous support they have provided this season to me and my colleagues on the Gladiators’ team.”