Tchatchouang studied English at school but isn’t fluent in the language. That made the recruiting process somewhat challenging, but nothing that proved too difficult for the 6-foot-3 forward.

“There were a lot of e-mails early, because that was the best in terms of her being able to translate,” Frese said. “She did all the work. She had a good English background to her, and she could read the e-mails back and forth. So [our recruitment of her] started out mainly through e-mail. I just think once we were able to come see her in person and she was able to meet us, that was probably a big relief to her.”

Maryland was the first high-major program to discover Tchatchouang, but the Terps had plenty of company after the 2007 U16 European championship, in which she led France to the tournament title and earned MVP honors. She followed that up with a strong showing in the 2008 U18 European Championship, culminating with her 27-point performance against the Czech Republic in the final game.

“I know UConn and Duke and all the heavy hitters started finding out about her,” Frese said. “Northwestern was in contact with her. So slowly but surely, word started getting out on her.”

But despite the courtship of the Huskies, Blue Devils, Wildcats and others, Tchatchouang’s heart was set on the Terps. With her mind made up, the next step was dealing with mounds of paperwork in order to gain NCAA clearance. The language barrier didn’t make things easy, according to Frese.

“The process is tough,” Frese said. “Obviously you’re applying to the University of Maryland and you have to be NCAA certified. You have to imagine they don’t make [the NCAA clearinghouse] process user-friendly. It’s all in English. And when you’re an international student, you take the SAT in English. You have to take the TOEFL test as well and then go through the NCAA clearinghouse. So the credit goes to Diandra. Every step of the way, she did a tremendous job of checking things off the list.”

Tchatchouang enrolled at Maryland in July for summer school and was finally approved by the NCAA clearinghouse late last month. Frese said while there are inevitable moments of homesickness, Tchatchouang’s transition to the U.S. has been smooth. Her vocabulary "continues to grow and grow everyday."

On the court, Frese has high expectations for Tchatchouang. With the graduation of Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman, not to mention the departures of Dee Liles, Marah Strickland and Drey Mingo, Maryland has plenty of playing time available. But regardless of those losses, Tchatchouang would have been counted on to make an impact, Frese said.

“Obviously with the losses that we’ve had due to graduation, she’s going to have an immediate impact,” Frese said. "But she would have anyways [even without the other departures]. She’s that kind of player. She’s 6-3 and very versatile. She can play inside and outside, she can shoot the three and she can take people off the dribble. She’s actually coming off surgery that she had on her ankle, and the things she’s doing right now are truly amazing. She’s only going to get better and better with time when she gets in shape. So she’s going to help us immediately.”

Notes: All eyes will be on sophomore center Lynetta Kizer this season. Frese said Maryland will count on the reigning ACC Freshman of the Year to shoulder a bigger scoring load as a sophomore. “We’re expecting her to have a big presence inside for us,” Frese said. “She knows what to expect going into her sophomore year and we’re going to count on her a lot down low.” ... Toliver’s heir apparent at point guard, freshman Dara Taylor, has lived up to the hype so far, according to Frese. “We talked about it as a staff [recently] that Dara Taylor is probably one of the fastest athletes we’ve had on any roster of any team we’ve coached,” Frese said. “We love to run, we love to be up-tempo, so I think she’s going to help us push it into another gear just because of her end-to-end quickness.” ... There will undoubtedly be challenging moments this season because of the roster turnover, but Frese said she's excited to work with such a young team. “I think with nine freshmen and sophomores on this roster, it’s going to be a youthful blend,” Frese said. “But I’m just impressed with how hard they’ve been working as a team. The majority of these players do not have a lot of basketball games under their belt, but that will be a fun part to watch this season. I’m excited to watch them grow together.”