Jan. 16, 2012
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A native of Douala, Cameroon, Steve Leandre Noubissie Tchiengang grew up playing soccer before being turned on to basketball as a teenager. While he has plans of pursuing a career in international business, he hopes to make basketball his profession after graduating this May.
On trading soccer for basketball:
“Soccer is the sport in my country, just like football or basketball might be the sport for kids here. That’s the ball that I first had as a kid. I played for a little while, and all of a sudden I realized that I was obviously taller than most of the guys. The first time I played[basketball] was 2004. It was kind of different sport; totally different from anything that we’d seen, rarely played around the country.So I gave it a try and ended up going to South Africa with a group of kids representing my country in a program that the NBA carries all around third-world countries to help kids and promote basketball. After that, I decided to come [to the U.S.]and further my education and… here I am now.”
On his philanthropic work:
“My freshman year, I was lucky enough to meet a student that’s currently a sophomore here, but he was in high school [then]. He introduced me to a group of refugees from the struggle in the civil war countries in Africa. I felt like it was a call for me to keep in touch with these kids and convey some of the lessons I have learned throughout my time here. Number one was learn the language so you can transition better, understand and get to know the people better than speaking your own language around your countrymen. So I had a good talk with those kids about the importance of learning English.
“I like to go speak to kids that are struggling making good decisions or following class and stuff like that. If I can impact a kid’s life or give them advice based on my struggle, I love to do that.”
On his major in economics:
“Econ is a back-up plan. I would love to play basketball, overseas or wherever it takes me.Because I have fallen in love with the game,and I’ve invested and put a lot into the game.I’m already getting a free education because of basketball, but I also would like to play professionally someday. Economics is a good degree coming out of Vanderbilt, and that’s the reason I chose it. Initially, I wanted to be an engineer. My second thought was international business; econ is the closest thing here to international business.”
On his use of social media:
“A couple years ago, one of my close friends,Hasheem Thabeet, introduced me to [Twitter]. Mostly I use my Twitter either to retweet inspirational quotes to those who follow me or maybe give inspiration through things that I’m doing. I’ll tell them when I’m going to work out and just to keep a positive attitude.Inspiring people that follow me, that’s the whole thing behind Twitter. And I like to blog on Facebook.”
On his offseason work:
“Given that I had surgery there was not much to do. I just worked on thinking positively,because it was hard to see the guys working and I couldn’t do anything. I could work on my form a little bit, my jumper, but that was about the only thing I could do. I was just thinking things through, having a positive attitude in everything I do. That was the main focus that I had this offseason.”
