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International Players Set for U.S. Basketball's "March Madness"

Virginia Commonwealth University's Cameroon duo ready for NCAA tournament

Every March, 65 of the best teams across America compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Division I basketball tournament. The three-week event is commonly known as "March Madness" because of the frenzy the tournament ignites among sports fans and others.

The semifinal matches - known popularly as the "Final Four" - as well as the championship game are among the United States' most publicized sporting events. The 2007 Final Four will be played on March 31 and the final on April 2 in Atlanta.

In 2006, more than 70 million people watched the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament on television, according to CBS. The Internet version called "March Madness on Demand" generated 19 million video streams and drew 5 million visits in 2006, making it one of the largest live Internet events in history.

Increasingly, the NCAA tournament has an international connection. There are a record 423 players from outside the United States on the 330 NCAA Division I men's basketball rosters in the 2006-2007 season, according to the NCAA. Approximately 70 of these players will take part in at least the first round of tournament play, which begins March 15. If they make it to the championship or even the Final Four, their home countries often take notice.

That happened in 2006 when the final games of the tournament were broadcast in Cameroon so people could watch their countrymen Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Alfred Aboya play for the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in the final game against the University of Florida. Florida won the game with the help of Joakim Noah, whose grandfather Zacharie Noah is a Cameroonian football star and the father of tennis player Yannick Noah.

Cameroon, an African country normally associated with dominance in football (known in the United States as soccer), has contributed 25 players to Division I basketball this school year. The top exporters of U.S. college-bound players in Division I men's basketball are Canada with 74, Lithuania with 32 and Australia with 29, according to the NCAA.

At least two more outstanding players from Cameroon will play in the NCAA tournament this year - Wil Fameni, a junior forward, and Franck Ndongo, a freshman forward for Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia. Fameni and Ndongo guided the VCU basketball team to an impressive 27-6 record, and the team is now scheduled for a first round match-up against Duke University.

VCU hopes to have a run similar to that of George Mason University (GMU), in 2006, when it became the smallest school to make it to the Final Four since 1979. "Never before has a school [like GMU] with such little name recognition ascended so unexpectedly to the national stage," wrote Stefan Fatsis in The Wall Street Journal on March 30, 2006.

Fameni, who is fluent in French, English, Dutch and Féfé, an African dialect, said basketball is becoming more popular in Cameroon. However, he does not believe it ever will attain the status of his national sport, since Cameroon has one of the most successful football teams in the world.

"When I left Cameroon basketball didn't compare in status to football, but it is mostly because of a lack of resources," Fameni told USINFO. "People have a hard time buying shoes and other equipment." He and Ndongo said they want to rectify this when they get home.

The two plan to finish their education and return home to confront problems in Cameroon. "So many kids have the same dream to come to the U.S. - play basketball and go to school," said Ndongo. "I want to go home after getting my degree [in finance], bring a positive message to my country, and encourage other kids to follow their dreams."

Fameni, who earned a degree in accounting and has begun work on his master's degree, hopes to use his experience and education to start a business in Cameroon and partner with U.S. companies.

Like many international students, Fameni and Ndongo found it difficult to leave their families and friends when they came to the United States. Fameni left home in November 2001 and did not get a chance to see his mother until her visit in January 2007, while Ndongo, who has been away from Cameroon for several years, recently had a visit from his father.

During the season, they play against other teams with players from Cameroon, including Yannick Formbor of Drexel University and Gaston Moliva from the University of Richmond.

"We have so many things in common. It's great to talk about Cameroon and our families back home," said Ndongo.

Before enrolling at VCU, Ndongo played high school basketball at the Montverde Academy in Florida with Mbah a Moute. In Cameroon, Mbah a Moute is better known as a prince whose father, Camille Moute a Bidias, is chief of the village of Bia Messe outside the capital of Yaounde.

Mbah a Moute's play and personality at UCLA has some students sporting T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Cameroon Crazies."

"I love the Cameroon Crazies," he said during the 2006 March tournament. "When you look up and see people cheering your name or your country, it makes you feel pretty good. It makes you realize you're doing something special."

For more stories about U.S. society, see Sports.

Source: U.S. Department of State