Basketball: Ach accent is on netting Scots glory.

Byline: By MARK WOODS 

WHEN anyone wants to know where Keiron Achara's funny accent comes from he just pulls up the sleeve on his T-shirt and shows off the Saltire tattoo that stretches across his right bicep.

And Scotland's great basketball hope has vowed to keep his roots planted and his size 15 feet firmly on the ground even if he makes it to the NBA.

After completing his first year at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh he's buzzing with confidence. Few overseas freshmen start games in college basketball especially not when they've only been playing for under five years.

Being 6ft 9in helps. But even at the age of 20 there might be more to come.

Achara said: 'I have another inch left in me.' Which will put him that bit closer to the hoop and a shot at following fellow Scot Robert Archibald into the world's best league.

While Toronto Raptors' forward Big Arch has stayed Stateside in search of a new NBA contract Achara is back home to fulfil his national duty.

Scotland fly to Andorra today for this week's European Promotions Cup and with their biggest name absent much is expected of the rising star.

But unlike Arch, the new boy's accent hasn't altered since he left his home in Stirling two years ago.

Keiron said: 'I refuse to become Americanised. That's why I got the tattoo. I talk to my friends back home all the time and they would slag me rotten if my accent changed.

'I have my Sean Connery videos for when I need to hear a Scottish voice. Plus my girlfriend wouldn't like to hear me talk differently.

'The only thing is you never have spare time and there are rules such as not going out drinking.

'It sets you apart but when we had a few days off after the season I was so bored I needed to play basketball.'

CAPTION(S):

Achara: Buzzing with confidence