N iqERi ANs TaIl at Barber- Scotia. OK. so it seems a little odd that a sch(X)l with financial troubles like Barber Scotia, one that almost had to close its doors this yearrwould ever have tennis team full of players from Nigeria. ? Burcollege^is" about opportunities. And for the players on coach William Madre's team, playing tennis is a very big opportunity. And they're having fun. And to show that they have truly been Americanized, the Nigerians have even learned a little slang. Let's ask sophomore Emeka Elichi how he's doing. "I'm just chillin", he says. "But you ? know what, I'm just having a gtxnl time. It's -wild. I'm- listening to this rap music now and that's wild, too." So life is fun for the team. The play ers are getting, free education, free visit to a very new ptace, much different from their homeland, and they're playing an awful lot of tennis. The team won its first ^ 5 matches. They are together partially because of a problem their coach, William Madre, says he has. "You have to understand that the (American) black tennis player won't come to Barber-Scotia," Madre says. "You won't have the exposure or facilities to keep them here. The best will go to the big white schools, just like basketball and football players. You know that the deal is." Madre has been at Barber-Scotia for three years, playing with his African play ers, all coming to him, indirectly or direct ly, from the Nigerian Lawn Tennis Associ ation. In 1991-92, when he started the team, the Sabers finished 14-3 as a club team. In '92-93, Barber-Scotia finished 19-1, and was ranked No. 23 in the nation. This season, the Sabers have been ~ looking to play more. ; The problem, Madre says, is finding opponents. Madre says several schools have refused to play a return match with Bar ber-Scotia after an initial match with the Sabers. "They're very, very good,^ Queens tennis coach Charles Gordon says. "(Madre' s) done a really good job, and he's got some really good players." But for the Saber, this is much more than about simply hitting balls with racquets. This is . ? 1 Barber-Scotia tennis coach William Madre (left) has a relationship with the Nigerian Lawn Tennis Association on that led to this year's all-Nigerian team . Pictured (front to back), Murtala , Habu , Richard Osaugwu , David Matthew , A>ruzn Nwokedi and Ganiya Ibrahim. an experience. This is America. Madre got hooked up with the Niger ian Lawn Tennis Association when he was coaching at Raleigh's St. Augustine's Col lege in the '70's. Madre was in San Diego for the NCAA Division II nationals and saw a player who caught his eye, Texas Southern's Gabriel Odudo. He asked Texas Southern's coach where Odudo came from. He was told that Odudo was from Nigeria. It wasn't long before Madre wrote the Nigerian Lawn Tennis people and began a dialogue. Later, he went to Nigeria to do some tennis clinics. As it turned out, the chairman of the Nigerian association, while in the United States on business, visited St Augustine's and Madre. The two struck up a friend ship. Soon, Madre was getting recommen dations on potential players. And throughout this career a with stops at St. Augustine's, J.C. Smith, Wil son Junior High in Charlotte and now Bar ber-Scotia, Madre, who has a 244-38 coaching record, has never lost touch with the association. When he cairfe to Barber Scotia three years ago, he began to try to t lure a few players to come with him. They came and they're doing well._ The players all speak English, it's their native tongue, but there are some adjustments. "It took me a while to get used to the food here," said Elichi, who is from Lagos, one of the larger cities in Nigeria. "There were some things I missed, like fu-fu," which is similar to mashed pota toes. Last year, when the team was jn Atlanta for a match, Richard Osaugwu saw a younger child yelling at a much older adult? "Richard was in shocked" Madre says. "He said, in Africa, they will flog you for this." "Back home," says freshman Kyrian Nwokedi, the team's No. 1 player, "we live with morals. Over here, they don't care about your age or anything. A little boy can insult a senior. That's no good." Not that Nwokedi and his mates aren't having a good time living inn a less structured environment. They live in an apartment building, in a special arrange ment worked out by the school. Because most of them don't get to go home during their four-year stay in the United States, they cannot stay in normal dormitories, which close for the summer and holidays. Elichi, for example, hasn't been home in three years. "I'm a little homesick," he says. "I'm planning to go in December to visit with the family and friends." To help with expenses, Madre says, his players work for a rrtomtTum wage, around the school. They do mostly mainte nance work, such as painting and grass cutting. And away from work ant tennis, the players say they arc fitting in welt. Eliohi is a political science major. He wants to return home one day and help run his country. He likes the educational opportunities here. He also likes the other things college can offer. "We hang out together as a team a lot," Elichi says. "But I also hangout with my friends outside the team. I'm sociable, you know." Or, as Nwokedi put it, "I'm getting an education, we're winning all our matches. I'm having fun." ? Langstom Wertz Jr.