Jordan Spencer is determined to repay Marc Steutel’s faith in his proven talent and fire Newcastle Eagles to glory this season.

The point guard has revealed offers of top-flight hoops were few and far between this summer after he dropped down the divisions with hometown team Milton Keynes Breakers.

But a reborn Spencer jumped at the chance to join the men in black when Steutel reached out to a player still rebuilding his career after admitting historic betting breaches.

“I love working with coach Steutel again,” he admitted, a decade after the pair enjoyed a successful period together within the Great Britain Under 20 set up.

“Marc brought me in when no one else really gave me an opportunity. I’m very thankful for that.

“He’s let me run the team and I have great conversations with him about how we can build this group and make it better.

“At this point, I’m just trying to prove to him that I was a good signing and that I’m trying to get better game by game.”

Spencer led the Breakers to a famous triple last season after guiding Milton Keynes out of NBL Division Two.

But the 30-year-old had one eye on another tilt at top level basketball following four seasons with London Lions and a stint with Leicester Riders.

Spencer has already established himself as one of Steutel’s most trusted on-court lieutenants.

And ahead of Sunday’s trip to former club London, the experienced playmaker has a point to prove.

“As a team we understand that we have a high ceiling and we’re trying to reach that point,” he added.

“We’re dealing with some injuries right now and still going through some growing pains but we’ll get there.

“We have a lot of rookies in this team and it sometimes feels weird being one of the older guys.

“But I’m surrounded by team-mates who want to learn and want to listen and that’s good enough for me.”

Spencer was banned from international action and top flight basketball in the UK after a 2019 investigation revealed he’d placed bets on his own team.

He continued to gamble during a stint in Germany — albeit not on basketball matches he was involved in — but placed his last bet in 2021.

Now he combines his on-court role at Newcastle with public speaking engagements worldwide, warning young players against the dangers of gambling.

Relishing a return to table-topping London he added: “Lions are always going to be a tough, tough team.

“They’ve put together a good roster and the Copper Box Arena is a great place to play basketball.

“As a team we’ll take the same approach we’ve taken all season but on a personal level it will mean a lot to me playing against London.”

Spencer’s contribution has proved key to Newcastle’s fast start to the season as Steutel looks to settle on a permanent point guard solution.

Jaelin Llewellyn left the club last month and new recruit Jared Bynum is still finding his feet in British basketball.

Nevertheless, Newcastle face the Lions buoyed by a 9-3 start across all competitions.

“We’ve got the numbers, we’ve got the belief and we’ve got the players to go out and win every game,” added Spencer.

“We’re just looking for a bit more consistency and cohesion.

“Sometime we have that in spurts but we don’t want to be that team that doesn’t know how things are going to turn out on any given night.

“Before the season started we’d have happily taken a 3-0 start in Europe, a Trophy semi-final and a winning start to the league.

“We’ll take that and just try to get better, knowing we’ve got key guys to come back.”

The Sunday afternoon Championship clash tips off at 4pmwith the action live on DAZN.