Hoya File Photo Georgetown has a long history of international recruiting, including Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, left, Nok Duany, above right, and Victor Samnick, lower right.

With about one in 14 students coming from other countries, there is no doubt that Georgetown has an international flavor. Add to that the fact that Washington is one of the most international cities in the world with people from every nation on Earth, the distinct international and multicultural quality plays a role in virtually every aspect of life on the campus and beyond. Both the men’s and women’s basketball programs are no exceptions. Especially over the course of the past decade, international players have played a significant role in both the men’s and women’s programs.

Both coaching staffs consistently go thousands of miles away to find players to improve their team. Cameroon, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Russia, Hungary and more nations have joined the United States as areas where the men’s and women’s coaches look for talent. In large part these efforts have paid off as foreign players have been some of the contributors to each team in recent years.

One of the reasons Georgetown enjoys success recruiting overseas is Georgetown’s international reputation. Men’s Basketball Head Coach Craig Esherick said, “the name of Georgetown is no longer just a national name, it is an international name.” He also said that because Washington, D.C., is such a cosmopolitan city, Georgetown would be attractive to any student from overseas regardless of whether he or she plays basketball. Women’s Basketball Head Coach Patrick Knapp added that players from overseas can take comfort in knowing that they will be near their native country’s embassy, and also that there will likely be many people from their native country in the area, which is not the case with the majority of schools in the United States.

Esherick and Knapp agreed that international recruiting is a priority for their programs. “We try every year. We’re primarily looking for post players, but we want to get the best player,” Knapp said. He was quick to point out, however, that international recruiting should never come before domestic recruiting.

Also, international recruiting is not without unique complications. Besides simply convincing a player to come to a new country thousands of miles away from home, Knapp said, “it takes a good year of teaching on the court before they become used to the different style and rules in the American game.” Esherick explained that NCAA regulations can also make things complicated when recruiting overseas. Due to NCAA regulations concerning amateur status, players who play for professional club teams, which are especially common in Europe, will be penalized and forced to sit out up to a full season even if they are not professionals. Despite these constraints, he said his program will continue to scout internationally as much as possible.

Georgetown’s current international players, which include junior forward Victor Samnick of Doala, Cameroon, on the men’s team and junior center Suzy Bendegue from Yaounde, Cameroon, junior forward Zsuzsanna Horvath of Budapest, Hungary and sophomore forward Varda Tamoulianis of Moscow on the women’s team, arrived here in a variety of ways. Esherick said Georgetown became interested in Samnick when he was living and playing in France, based on reports from Joseph Touomou and Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, two former Hoyas and countrymen of Samnick. Horvath said she was discovered while playing at Central Florida Community College, and Tamoulianis said it was at the European Championships when Georgetown first showed interest in her. All three said Georgetown was a well-known name in their homelands both as a basketball team and academic institution. Samnick said his parents wanted him to come here because of the education he would receive. Horvath said she wanted to study business and was impressed with Georgetown’s program.

All three said that they did encounter the expected difficulties one would face adjusting to being a student-athlete in a foreign country. Samnick said, “people yell at you when you don’t understand something.” However, he noted that playing with fellow Cameroon native Boumtje-Boumtje eased his transition and that “it was like playing with my brother.” Both women remarked that there is a definite difference in that the American game is far more physical than the European game they grew up playing. They echoed their coach’s comments that having their embassies and other countrymen and women nearby in the city has eased their transition at Georgetown and in the United States.

In summing up his feelings about international players in his program, Knapp said, “Every international player we’ve had has always listened, worked hard and been extremely appreciative for the opportunity that they’ve been granted, which is not always the case with the typical American student.” International players continue to distinguish themselves both on and off the court at Georgetown and beyond, most notably Boumtje-Boumtje, Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2000-01, and Dikembe Mutombo, who has won international praise for the enormous amount of work he has done to improve health care conditions in his native Congo.