SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Freshmen Alex Distras and Veron Eze joined the Augustana men's basketball team this year looking to make a run at an NSIC Championship and the NCAA Tournament. The pair of guards from across the pond will look to adapt to their first year of collegiate basketball while also learning a different lifestyle of living in the United States.
 
Distras spent the past season in Pennsylvania, playing for Scotland Campus, an established preparatory basketball program in the U.S., while Eze most recently competed for Great Britain in the League of Nations 3x3 Championships. 
 
"When I first got picked up at the airport, I hopped in the driver's seat thinking it was the passenger seat," Distras said. "Everything's different, from the way it looks to the way people speak.
 
"Obviously, we all speak English, but the way I'd say something could be completely different from the way you say something." 
 
During their recruitment process, neither player was able to visit campus. They only saw what you could find online or through word of mouth. 
 
"I had never heard of Sioux Falls before," Eze said. "And [Augustana's coaches] had equally never heard of me before." 
 
Jordan Spencer, '18 alumnus and a member of the 2016 National Championship team, played a large role in helping both players get in contact with the coaching staff and make a decision to come play abroad at Augustana. Billeter said that both players were recommended by Spencer, so he did his own research, looked at tape and then reached out. 
 
Meanwhile, Spencer was helping out more than Billeter might have known. 
 
"Right before I committed, I had a conversation with him," Distras said. "He just kept it 100 percent with me. He had nothing bad to say." 
 
Eze said it was nice to have that unbiased opinion, (he understands it's a little biased since he played at Augustana) and have a genuine conversation before making his decision to play here. 
 
At his past coaching jobs, Billeter said he was able to go overseas to recruit actively. While he was there, he built relationships and connections with other coaches. That allowed him to originally recruit and sign Spencer. 
 
Eze and Distras have only been on campus for a couple of months now but they are starting to feel more comfortable with their new surroundings. 
 
"It's a small school, so I'm just starting to see all the same faces, but that's good sometimes," Distras said. "It means I'm in a closer community and that's a good thing." 
 
Their teammates have helped them through the transition, Eze said. 
 
"Our team has done a really great job of giving us a sense of belonging," he said. "It took 20 minutes of meeting the guys to feel like I was around a great bunch of people that wanted to be here." 
 
Official practices for basketball started Oct. 15, so Distras and Eze are still very new to the practices that Billeter runs. 
 
"I think it's been an adjustment for them," Billeter said. "I'm happy with where they are at, but they definitely [have] got to get better.
 
"The speed of the game, pace of the game, intensity maybe of the game is just something that they've got to learn, and they will." 
 
Basketball season officially starts Friday when the team travels to Kansas City, Missouri, to play Southern Arkansas. Distras and Eze both expressed their desire to help the team. 
 
"We both want to win," Distras said. "I told the team I want to make an impact on or off the court."
 
Billeter has seen plenty of success with his recruiting classes, bringing in five of the last 13 NSIC Freshman of the Year awards. No other team has more than two during that span. 
 
"We still really sell the academic component," Billeter said. "I've always said one of the greatest jobs in the world would be to sell a product you know is the best out there. Well that's how I feel about Augie."
 
Along with Distras and Eze, the Vikings newcomers also include Angelo Winkel and Zac Johnson. Winkel concluded his prep career as a finalist for the Iowa Player of the Year and a three-time All-State honoree. Johnson was a two-time All-State honoree while setting the all-time scoring and rebound records at River Falls High School in Wisconsin.