On April 20, the Oregon’s men’s tennis program announced that Thomas Laurent, a junior player recruit out of Montpellier, France, will be joining the team for the 2015-2016 school year.
Out of the 10 total roster spots, four of those spots currently belong to international players. The four international players on the team have traveled a total of 19,598 miles to play collegiate tennis at the University of Oregon.
Coach Nils Schyllander and his coaching staff have a simple philosophy when it comes to recruiting. “I am pretty personable with recruits and we try to be honest and upfront on what to expect,” he said.
Schyllander’s honesty landed him recruits from as far as Charleroi, Belgium (Simon Stevens, freshman) and New South Wales, Australia (Cormac Clissold, freshman).
Schyllander told Clissold that if he chose the UO, he would train day in and day out with some of the best tennis players in the world.
“The University of Oregon gives me the best chance to play college tennis and try to create a career,” Clissold said.
For Stevens, it was more of what Schyllander did than what he said.
“Everyone told me to go to Oregon and that I would like the coach,” Stevens said. “Then (Schyllander) came to Belgium and it was great. It was great for my parents and it showed that they can trust him.”
Schyllander discovers these international players by following tournaments from all over the world. The coaching staff then follows the results of the tournaments and examines who the best players are. Schyllander remains in contact with coaches from across the globe; they talk about the best up- and-coming international prospects.
Also, being of foreign descent has helped Schyllander and his coaching staff in recruiting.
“We (Schyllander and associate head coach Jonas Piibor) have gone through the same thing these international student athletes are going through,” Schyllander said.
Schyllander likes to go for quality people and quality student athletes regardless of where they are from.
“Everyday you get better with the coaches and also your teammates,” Stevens said. “You get a lot of support during your matches or practices.”
With the team being so diverse, they have found a way to build solid chemistry.
“The locker room is really great and makes for a lot of different personalities from different parts of the world,” Schyllander said.
Laurent will have an easy time dealing with being home sick once he arrives in Eugene. Schyllander believes that no matter how far you’re away from home feeling homesick is natural.
“That’s where it really helps to have a great locker room where people do feel at home and this truly is a family away from family,” Schyllander said. “That’s kind of the atmosphere we want to have.”
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