LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Khouraichi Thiam stands up, waving a flag equal parts green, yellow and red with a green star in the center.
In practice, Arthur Bouedo and Amath M'Baye share a laugh after sharing a joke in French.
At the other end of the floor, Djibril Thiam and Boubacar Sylla spark up their own conversation in Wolof -- the native language of Senegal.
The differing languages leave most of the Wyoming Cowboys wondering what in the world their teammates are talking about.
But for UW's four foreign-born players, they'll take any chance they can to feel like their close to home once again.
"You never get used to it," Thiam said. "Your culture is your culture and your background is your background. I stay in contact with my family. I'm really grounded. But I know what brought me here and I'm just here to do it to the best of my ability."
Laramie has been no stranger to foreign-born players, particularly since coach Heath Schroyer -- now in his third year -- took the helm.
And, like with many of those recruited around the country, they've come with mixed results.
Greek product Marios Matalon lasted just weeks at Wyoming before returning home.
Mikhail Linskens, a Belgian big man that was also a part of Schroyer's first class, played for two years before leaving the program with one-year French player Mahamoud Diakite.
But Thiam, a junior from Senegal, French sophomore Arthur Bouedo and French freshman Amath M'Baye seem to have found a long-term home away from home.
"Knowing that I'm not the only one from another country, that helps," Bouedo said. "All those guys that are far from home, we can share stories and it's easier to keep grounded like that when you're so far from home."
It doesn't hurt that many of them knew each other -- or at least of each other -- before coming to UW.
Bouedo, M'Baye, Thiam and sophomore center Boubacar Sylla, who has been plagued by a foot injury this year, all played at Stoneridge Prep in California.
"It definitely helps," M'Baye said. "It helps just having the same culture of somebody. They know the same jokes and we've been educated all the same way."
And they aren't alone in missing the life they left that's about 5,000 miles away.
Thiam hasn't been home in two and a half years, but it helps that his younger brother is right up the road in Cheyenne.
Once hopeful he could follow in Dbjril's footsteps, injuries have relegated Khouraichi to rooting on his brother.
It's not hard to pick him out at the Arena-Auditorium. He's the one enthusiastically waving the Senegalese flag every time Djibril scores.
"That kind of helps a little bit, but that's about it," Djibril Thiam said. "He's up there with the flag and it's always great before a game to see him up there. It gives me a great feeling. It's a good thing to have someone from your family close."
Thiam's foreign-born teammates aren't so lucky, but cross their fingers for the occasional visitor.
Bouedo got an early birthday present this week with his father, Philippe, in town.
"First time I've seen him play in six years," Philippe said. "It's interesting. He's changed a little. It's nice to see him after going a year without playing. It was interesting to see him beginning in the NCAA."
But such visits are few and far between for everyone on the team, especially for those whose families are halfway around the globe.
And when times are tough, they must turn to their family in the locker room.
"He's got his own family here," Philippe Bouedo said.
And with modern technology, the real thing is only a click away.
M'Baye's mother lives in France and his father lives in Senegal, but that doesn't stop him from keeping in touch just as well -- if not better -- than Cowboys with family just hours away.
The freshman talks to his mother and grandmother almost every single day and his father at least once a week.
"I never call them because I can't, but (my mother's) calling me every night," M'Baye said. "I try to stay in touch with her and what she does every day. Once she tells me what she did during that day, it kind of makes me feel like I'm there."
Thiam and Bouedo opt more for keeping in touch on the computer.
Internet services allow users to talk via phone or webcam for a small fee or even for free, allowing players to contact friends and family members with the click of a button.
"I totally use it," Thiam said. "It's a great tool nowadays. It's better than writing letters that they have to carry on a boat and it never gets there. I talk to my parents all the time on the video camera, on the phone. And it's cheap, too."
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Information from: Casper Star-Tribune - Casper, http://www.trib.com
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