Wade Lees walked off the plane last January to begin his new life as a football player at Maryland wearing the same clothes as when he left he his mother's home in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
"You come from an Australian summer, which was like 105 degrees into four feet of snow, I walked off the airplane in sandals, board shorts and a singlet [tank top]," Lees recalled Wednesday, sitting on a bench outside Gossett Team House. "It was quite a contrast."
In the eight intervening months, Lees has gone from being a former Australian rules football player whose dream of playing in his country's top league had faded to one of several Australians hoping to join an impressive list of expats who have become successful college punters in the United States.