< Back Steven Arms David and Jan Blittersdorf Frank Bryan Mary Cushman David Marvin Raymond J. McNulty Lindsey Melander Miriam E. Nelson Germain Njila David Perez Andrew Siebengartner Bridget Thabault John Todd Mary C. Watzin Jody Williams		GERMAIN NJILA Class of 2005, College of Engineering and Mathematics Two thousand and three was a year of firsts for UVM basketball. Not only did the Catamounts overcome injuries and a blizzard to make it to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time in the tourney’s 64-year history, but they also fielded their first African player, six-foot-four guard Germain Njila. A UVM coach spotted Njila at a basketball camp and recruited the promising athlete from Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon, who was attending high school in Connecticut. Little did Njila suspect he would go so far so fast. “Just the idea of going to the tournament,” he says, “made people so proud and so happy.” Njila finds that being a student athlete in Burlington can pose a greater challenge than being one of the few Africans on campus. “Some people expect athletes to be just athletes and not be good at school, but being a student athlete requires a lot of discipline,” says Njila, who rises at 5:45 during the off-season to run and takes pride in his strong academic performance. His nationality and race invite fewer misconceptions, he says. “People here welcome other cultures, although sometimes I have problems answering all their questions. I feel like I represent Africa to a lot of people who know nothing about it.” Njila, who is studying information systems and business, does not have “a clear idea” yet of his future, but after attending graduate school and acquiring some work experience in the U.S., he says, “I would like to end up doing something in Cameroon.” Not before another bout of March Madness, however. “This year our goal was getting there,” Njila says. “Next year our goal is to go back and compete.”