Five rejections are hard for anyone to take, but for freshman Christian Owona they were preventing his ticket to America.
Christian and, his twin brother, Mike went to obtain student visas in Cameroon on the same day. Both had been offered the chance to play basketball at JC. Mike walked out with his visa, while Christian was rejected for the first time. The boys went in together, but each went to a separate immigration official.
“One person can give you the okay, while the person in the next room can reject you,” said men’s varsity basketball coach Tony Martin. “There is no exact logic behind [the decision].” Both boys had the same credentials, but each immigration official made the decision based on his or her own opinion.
Christian did not go to the airport to see Mike leave in August. Their mother told Martin that Christian was “inconsolable.” It was the first time the brothers had ever been a part.
Christian and Mike came to America from Cameroon, a small country on the west coast of Africa. Joe Touomou, a Cameroonian native, made that all possible.
Touomou came to America to play basketball for a high school in North Carolina. He went on to Georgetown University, playing point guard for the Hoyas from 1995 to 1999. A knee injury kept him from advancing to a higher level.
Martin first came in contact with Touomou while coaching at Archbishop Spalding in the mid-1990’s. The Georgetown basketball coach, Craig Esherick, contacted Martin about bringing over another Cameroonian basketball player, Max Yokono. Yokono was like a “little brother” to Touomou.
After graduating Archbishop Spalding in 1998, Yokono played basketball at Sacred Heart University, while Touomou started recruiting boys from Africa to play basketball in the United States.
Originally a scout for National Basketball Association, Touomou started his own recruiting organization Kossengwe.
Martin and Touomou were in constant contact from the mid-1990’s onward. The Owona twins are not the first players Touomou suggested, but are the first athletes to play for JC.
The Owona twins went to a Catholic school in Cameroon, focusing on a science curriculum. The boys stood out because they were tall. “I was six feet and three inches when I was thirteen,” said Mike. Mike, currently six feet and eight inches, and Christian, standing at six feet and six inches, have a natural advantage in basketball.
“In my country, everybody plays soccer, but we played basketball because we were tall,” said Mike. The boys were approached by Touomou early in 2008.
“Our parents were happy for us, but parents are parents. They were still worried,” said Mike.
America “is better than Africa in a lot of ways, but it can be boring,” Mike said. Much of the Mike’s boredom can be contributed to the absence of Christian during first semester.
Mike began living with his host family, the Loves in August. Senior Jamal Love was excited for Mike to come because he had “never had another guy in the house.”
Love had heard that Martin was bringing over international students from Africa last year and he told his mother about it. Love said, “She was really happy about it” and then agreed to host Mike.
Mike started to adjust without his brother. He kept in contact with his friends and family in Cameroon through Skype.
In school, Mike is also adapting well. “Mike got moved up in math because he is so far ahead of students here,” said Martin.
But, Mike was still waiting for his brother to come over. “When Christian wasn’t there, I was really bored and lonely,” Mike said.
Christian finally received a student visa late in 2009. He arrived in America in early January and began school at the beginning of the second semester.
“Christian’s the shy one,” Love said. Christian is beginning his adjustment to America and learning English. “Mostly they talk to each other in French,” said Love.
“My hope for the boys is to have life changing experiences beyond the basketball court,” said Martin.
Rachel Kokoska can be reached for comment at [email protected].