By Rachel Johnson

Ivan Perez stood on the court at the finals of the high school volleyball championship in Puerto Rico. His play in that tournament earned him the honor of MVP and led his team to a national victory. But Perez did not know there was much more at stake that day.

Now head coach of the men's volleyball team, Shawn Patchell was watching Perez, waiting to offer him the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to fulfill a dream. Patchell remembers Perez as a "skinny kid with a lot of potential." So much potential, in fact, he approached Perez after the victory and invited him to continue his volleyball career at BYU.

Perez is in good company. With 31 international student-athletes representing more than 10 countries on this year's rosters, BYU's foreign-born athletes are making an impact on their respective teams and the athletic community.

The men's volleyball team finds much of its talent in Puerto Rico and Brazil. Patchell said his first recruiting trip was to Puerto Rico and he has been returning to the national high school championships each year to scout out the prospects.

Patchell's connections in Puerto Rico and Brazil have facilitated the volleyball team's international recruiting efforts. He is currently establishing contacts in Europe to expand the reach of BYU's foreign recruiters.

The international volleyball players have been a great addition to the team, Patchell said.

"They have to work hard as students and that translates into hard work on the court," Patchell said. "It's a lot more work, but I think we've made it worthwhile."

The coach said it is five times harder to recruit an international athlete than a domestic player because of test and class requirements. Despite the success foreign players have had on the volleyball team, international recruiting is not the first priority, according to Patchell.

"If we get the best guys in America, we don't go outside of the country," Patchell said.

Men's basketball coach Dave Rose agrees with Patchell on the importance of looking domestically before considering international athletes.

"The majority of what we do is evaluating talent in the United States," Rose said.

The basketball team has a strong tradition of recruiting international athletes and was a leader in Division 1 recruitment of foreign players, snagging Finnish player Timo Lampen back in 1961 and Kresimir Cosic in the early 1970s.

Three of the 16 current players on the men's basketball roster were born in other countries including sophomore Jonathan Tavernari.

Tavernari came to the United States to play basketball during his last two years of high school before deciding to play at BYU.

He said he always dreamed of coming to America to play basketball in college, an opportunity that was not possible in his native Brazil. Tavernari chose to come to BYU after being baptized in 2005, but being a Cougar was always at the top of his list because of the school's location and strong academic and athletic programs.

Tavernari's situation is typical of many foreign players on the basketball team. Rose said most international athletes are already in the United States when BYU begins recruiting them.

Brazilian Rafael Araujo, played basketball for the Cougars for two years after being discovered at a junior college. Former assistant coach Walter Rose helped the team establish contacts in Brazil, which led to the recruitment of Luis Lemmus and Fernando Malaman.

Rose said the greatest strength of international athletes is the ability to work well with other members of the team.

"They are such great teammates because they are so committed and their style complements players here," Rose said.

The women's tennis team leads the school in the number of international players, six of eight hail from outside the United States. Australian-born head coach, and former BYU player, Craig Manning said tennis is an international sport and most of the best talent comes from outside America.

"Tennis is played everywhere in the world," Manning said. "In America, people don't understand that because they haven't had the experience of seeing how huge it is everywhere else."

Manning's obvious connections to Australia have snagged considerable talent from that area, with at least one Australian on the team for eight of the last 10 years.

Manning said he has reliable contacts in Russia and in Florida, where many international and domestic players train.

"The most important thing is to build a web [of contacts] to help you locate and identify good talent," Manning said.

BYU's tradition of academic and athletic excellence will continue to be a selling point for foreign recruits as the school seeks to maintain diversity and bring international talent to Provo. Perez said that is how recruiters convinced him.

"It was more of a dream," Perez said of the chance to play volleyball and get an education in America.

Hopefully, BYU will make dreams a reality for years to come.

Copyright Brigham Young University 30 Apr 2008