During a practice in October, Penn State tennis player Jason Lee ran back on a ball hit over his head and calmly swung the racket between his legs to return a yellow blur that landed just inside his opponent's end line.
His partner quickly jogged over to offer congratulations in a clearly foreign accent. Lee returned the thanks with a large smile, something the freshman is rarely without.
Although Lee looks right at home at Penn State, he is thousands of miles away from it. Take away his coach Todd Doebler and sophomore friend Eddie Bourchier, and his life would be very different.
Lee and Bourchier are both natives of Australia, from Sydney and Hobart, respectively. Bourchier came to America two years ago and is also the main reason for Lee's presence at Penn State.
"I've known Eddie since I was 10 years old," Lee said. "We used to play together and against each other and train with each other so we are pretty close."
After Bourchier committed to Penn State, he told Doebler about Lee and a short time later, Doebler went out on a limb to recruit Lee.
"I did not see him play before I recruited him," Doebler said. "I just based it on his results and based on what Eddie said along with a few contacts in Australia that I relied on heavily."
Doebler's other source was Craig Tiley, who currently runs Australia Tennis and is the current Australian Open tournament director. Tiley coached at Illinois for over a decade and led the school to its first National Indoor and NCAA championships
Based on Tiley's past and his close relationship with Aussie players, Doebler said he trusted Tiley's opinion and he would have been much more worried about recruiting Lee without him.
Lee also tried to gather as much information about Penn State and the tennis program to make the decision to travel across the world and leave the comfort of Australia behind him.
"I decided I wanted to go to college when I was halfway through my [junior] year of high school," Lee said. "I didn't want to go anywhere where I was the only Aussie so I asked Eddie where he was going. He said Penn State so I told him to give Coach my e-mail address and it went from there."
As his interest in Penn State grew, Lee came on a recruiting trip to see what the program and the school were all about. It was the first time Lee had ever come to the U.S. and he said when he boarded the plane, he didn't know what to expect.
"When I came over, it was winter and it was the first time I had ever seen snow," Lee said. "My mom works in New York so she told me about the States before and how much fun it is, but I still didn't really know what I was in for."
When he arrived in America, it was windy and cold, but a warm and familiar feeling came to him as he exited the plane. There waiting for him in the terminal was Bourchier.
"The first person I saw when I got off the plane was Eddie," Lee said. "I thought it was so cool and I knew I had to come to a place like this because in Australia, you don't really get the same opportunities. You have to study the whole year or play tennis the whole year, you can't really do both. Here, you get the best of both worlds."
Although Bourchier's presence was almost enough to convince Lee to stay at Penn State, doubts swirled in his head about what the team would be like and if Penn State was really the right fit. Luckily for him, his teammates proved to be the final assurance he needed.
Senior captain Adam Slagter said the entire team greeted Lee with a warm and respectful attitude. The players knew he could stand on his own two feet, but they wanted to make sure he had a support system, too.
"It was kind of a whole team effort and it's a process that every freshman goes through," Slagter said. "Our guys on the team helped me out when I was a freshman so I knew I wanted to return the favor for Jason."
Lee had wanted to join a team that was coming up through the rankings but not quite at the top of the tennis world. He said he didn't want to join a team and not be able to contribute immediately.
When Lee visited, Penn State was ranked No. 35 in the country and had improved its rankings every year since Lee's interest began in the school. Everything about Penn State impressed Lee and he said in the end, it wasn't a difficult decision.
"If I didn't come on a recruiting trip, I don't know where I'd be right now," Lee said. "When I got here the guys were just so warm to me and they knew how hard it was for kids to be away from home. I realized that here, I'm part of a team with a great training facility, good teammates, and it's a great academic facility as well. It just fit right for me."
Doebler said the hardest part of recruiting Lee was the work just before he visited the school. He said one of the main focuses was the team aspect and he wanted everyone to understand the importance of being a good teammate and showing that to Lee.
He added he just hoped he had everything in place before he brought in Lee for a visit because it didn't matter where he came from, he needed to be comfortable here.
"When you bring in someone new, whether they're from the other side of the earth or just another state it's important to bring them into that team culture," Doebler said. "The guys need to know they have each other's backs and it's something we have stressed over the last two-and-a-half years."
Even though Lee has completed his first fall season, he said it still feels like a holiday for him and it's just now starting to sink in how far away from home he really is. But for Lee, it is a sacrifice he is willing to make.
"It has started to kick in how far away from home I am, but as a tennis player you have to make a few risks in your life," Lee said. "You have to put yourself out there and give yourself the best opportunity you can. My goals were to play tennis and study here at the same time so that way I got the best choice I could possibly make."
Slagter said Lee's culture gap occasionally proves to be entertaining, but he is doing a good job closing it. Slagter also said he's done a "hell of a job learning and paying attention and he's definitely not afraid to ask questions."
Lee finished the fall season 3-5 and advanced to the ITA Northeast Regional Champsionships quarterfinals in doubles play with Bouchier. Although Lee and Bouchier were defeated, high aspirations still exist for Lee from his coach and fellow players.
"All the information I got from Eddie and coach Tiley was correct," Doebler said of Lee. "He's a talented guy and he's only going to get better and thrive in the college environment. How talented he gets remains to be seen, but as he gets stronger and hones in on what he does really well, he is going to be a dangerous player."
