With brown hair flowing out of a white headband, Creighton center Sam Froling shoots from long distance before a December game against Providence. It clangs off the rim, falling harmlessly to the hardwood, but he takes a few steps to his right and launches another one.
This is the 7-footer's pregame ritual: catch and shoot, catch and shoot ...
Froling knows something about long distances.
The native of Townsville, on Australia's Northeast coast, is in his first season playing basketball in Omaha, Nebraska -- more than 8,000 miles from home. Flight time? One day.
But he isn't alone. He's joined by countryman and fellow center Jacob Epperson, a 6-foot-11 sophomore from Melbourne. They're two of 67 Australian-born players in United States college basketball, the third-highest total behind that of players from the U.S. and Canada.
On the team and in the locker room, they're in the minority. "It's nice to have someone to relate to, to talk about home with," Epperson said.
"Even if just to hear another Australian accent," Froling added, finishing Epperson's sentence.
The pair, by the way, weren't in the same room. Froling and Epperson are of similar minds, living on the other side of the world and looking to crack the rotation at Creighton, which prefers proficiency from 3-point range. Through Jan. 16, the Bluejays are tied for the most 3s made in the nation, though Froling and Epperson have combined to go just 4-of-11 from the arc.
Epperson has been hampered by back and knee injuries, which will keep him sidelined for the rest of the season. When he's on the court, he has modeled his game after Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, one of the NBA's great 3-point marksmen and the inspiration for Epperson choosing to wear No. 41. Epperson hasn't yet developed Nowitzki's range but brings value by adding depth to Creighton's interior defense.
Indeed, both Aussies are works in progress. To thrive in the American college game, the pair have been actively trying to improve on what comes naturally to many U.S.-born players, whom Froling calls "better athletes."
"I've had to work on increasing my explosiveness, my speed, adjusting to how much running they do," said Froling, who averages 4.4 points on 58 percent shooting in 10 minutes as the backup center in a guard-dominated rotation.
"In Australia," Epperson said, "it was always like, the bigger man, the stronger man wins."
Froling, too, is getting used to the new style. On Dec. 20, he scored a career-high 17 points in a Creighton win in which the Bluejays nailed a Big East-record 22 3s. That win came against tiny Coe College, a Division III team sandwiched into the Bluejays' pre-conference schedule. Froling made one from deep.
It was a start.
Making adjustments
"It's freezing down here," Epperson said.
That's the real adjustment for these two. It's not bigger-and-stronger opponents stateside or even separation anxiety.
"I'm wearing the most clothes I've ever worn in my life," said Froling, who bought his first winter coat after signing on as a Bluejay.
The temperature in Omaha rarely rises above 5 Celsius (41 Fahrenheit) in the winter. As members of the Big East, most of Creighton's road games -- such as New Year's Eve in Providence, Rhode Island -- also are in cold climes.
Epperson misses his outdoor hobbies. If he were home, he'd bike around Melbourne's streets and enjoy the fresh seafood of his oceanside locale. His family, though, is never too far away since he is quite literally a child of two countries.
His father, Ken, grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and rewrote the Toledo record books in his time there as a forward from 1981-85. Ken Epperson then played professionally in Australia, which is where he met Jacob's mother, Katherine. When Jacob decided to play high school basketball at LaLumiere High School in LaPorte, Indiana, his parents and sisters moved from Melbourne to Indiana to be closer to him and Ken's side of the family. From there, the No. 75-ranked player in the Class of 2018 chose to attend Creighton.
Froling's family connection is similar. American basketball is in his DNA, too. He is the youngest of four siblings who have gone on to play college basketball in the U.S. His brother, Harry, played at SMU before transferring to Marquette. His sisters, Alicia and Keely, played at SMU as well, where Alicia currently stars, leading the American Athletic Conference in rebounds and blocks.
"It was good having them come first to tell me what they went through, what they expected," Froling said.
What should these two, grinding away on the other side of the globe, expect going forward?
In the short term, both hope for an NCAA Tournament spot. Unfortunately, at 11-8 overall with a tough conference slate looming, that seems unlikely. They also hope to play more than spare minutes off the bench.
In the long term, there's the possibility of playing at the professional level. Froling, for his part, turned heads at the NBA Basketball Without Borders Camp, a showcase before all 30 NBA teams. Epperson was a four-star recruit coming into college. It isn't out of the question.
But to experience March glory or cash professional paychecks, these two Aussies first will have to master the mundane.
Catch and shoot, catch and shoot ...