At 18 years old, Steven Perriere had a decision to think about with his father back home in France: go to the private, high-level school he was accepted at in France or pursue his love for basketball. The six-foot seven Frenchman, which his friends call “Frenchie,” decided to make the journey to America.
“My father said you’re young and you’re tough, and you know how to play basketball so why not go to the United States? Go to school and maybe if you get accepted somewhere you can just play,” said Perriere
Perriere said during his first semester at Sinclair Community College is when he first ran into Jeff Price. Price walked up to him and said “You’re tall!” Price then went on to tell Perriere how he was the Head Coach and the Athletic Director. Price invited Perriere to an open gym for basketball. Perriere showed up and Price said, “Okay, I want you on my team.”
Perriere has been in America for almost two years now. When asked what has been the most difficult thing about transitioning from France to America for him, he didn’t hesitate to talk about language.
“I already knew how to speak English, but I didn’t know how to speak English with Americans. I would practice with my classmates and teachers, but they were French too. Sometimes Americans speak really fast and mumble sometimes so at first it was kind of hard to catch up and catch a word and stuff but I got used to it. It was pretty easy transitioning, but the language was the hardest,” says Perriere.
Perriere already had family over here so that made transitioning that much easier for him. His brother and sister both went to Sinclair. His brother just graduated from Sinclair while his sister just graduated from Wright State.
“When I came here, my brother helped me get my license and [with] teaching me how to transition from high school to college. In college, you get a lot of free time so he was teaching me how to manage that free time. He also helped me with basketball,” Perriere said.
While his family was welcoming and supportive of him, that was not the case when he first joined the team.
“At first, I was kind of an outcast. First of all, the language. They are young teenagers and do what they do. I wasn’t used to that stuff. I don’t know what they are talking about. I don’t know what they are doing,” Perriere said.
However, Perriere used his basketball skills to prove that he did belong on the team and that he could play really well, which seemed to be the only way to get involved with everyone. He didn’t feel any pressure to perform, though.
“I love basketball. Even if it is with Chinese or Americans or Japanese I would just play basketball. They play basketball in the same language,” said Perriere.
Now, his friends call him “Frenchie”. It took time, but Perriere feels much more comfortable within the team. Outside of his family, Michael Carter, a Sinclair adviser, Michael Gaines, who helped him get a job within Sinclair, and coach Price have helped him an incredible amount by getting him scholarships, helping him get a job, and getting in contact with other schools.
For right now, Perrerie’s goal is to get a scholarship for a division one school. Secondly, he wants to improve his grades and get onto the All-American team. A division one school has already looked at him. In the meantime, he is just trying to get involved in the Dayton community and be the best all-around person he can be.
Matt Summers
Reporter