Benoit Roddier, 18, freshman was put in the midst of his own personal March Madness this winter season.  Roddier, the only international student on the men’s basketball team, came all the way from Paris, France to play basketball on De Anza mens basketball team.

Roddier, who is a guard for De Anza, said it wasn’t too hard to move. He knew he wanted to play basketball and he had moved just a year before to Bayonne for the same reason of being able to play his favorite sport.

Roddier said, “I came to De Anza because it is much harder in France to combine both studying and basketball. Usually people only pick one.” 

“I like being part of a college team,” said Roddier about his experience on the De Anza team. “It’s like being part of one big family.The team is really close. I’ve had the opportunity to meet people from the east coast as well, because some of the other players are from there.”  

“I’m not sure if I will be playing with them next year,” he added, “but I do plan to play at university level.” 

Majoring in Kinesiology, he has career plans of being a personal trainer or basketball coach. He also hopes to be like his main inspiration, Kevin Durant who plays for Oklahoma City. 

“I look up to him because he is a hard worker, and he is very humble. Like him, I also give the best I can do on everything.”