Around the World with Adit: Tobias Cameron
It is required for international student-athletes to have the ability to adapt for them to function in an academic, social and team setting.
In that aspect, Abilene Christian's fifth-year guard, Tobias Cameron, is second to none.
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1999, Tobias had to learn to adapt to new environments at the early age of three.
Tobias's father, Pero Cameron, was a professional basketball player. He signed with the Chester Jets in the British Basketball League after leading the Tall Blacks to the semifinals of the 2002 FIBA World Championships in Indianapolis.
As a toddler, Tobias had to move and live in Ellesmere Port, England, before moving back to New Zealand in 2003.
Still, he did not have the luxury to stay. In 2005, Pero signed with the Turkish professional team, Banvit, taking his family with him to Badirma, Turkey.
"In Turkey, there was a big change," Tobias said. "There were times when my mother (Jennelle Cameron) and sister couldn't come to watch my father's games."
But even life in Turkey did not last long for the Camerons. After playing with Banvit for one year, Pero signed with Mahram, an Iranian professional team, in 2007. There, eight-year-old Tobias and his brother, Flynn Cameron, faced another cultural challenge.
"In Turkey, I was homeschooled, so I never had to deal with the challenge of building relationships with cultural differences."
In Iran, Tobias and Flynn went to a public school.
"My brother and I couldn't speak the language, so we had to move down a grade," Tobias said. "There, most of the kids in our grade did not know how to speak English, even the teachers barely speak it."
After around three months of living in Iran, Pero and Jennelle decided that it was not the ideal place to live and raise their children.
"There was a lot of things going on in Iran back then, it was not uncommon to see guards walking around with an AK-47."
That same year, Pero signed with the last team of his career as a player, the Gold Coast Blaze, and Tobias and his family can finally settle in Gold Coast, Australia.
Despite the difficulties, Tobias considers his time moving around a blessing. He not only was exposed to different cultures, but he was also able to study from many different coaches that gave him different perspectives on the game of basketball.
Started playing basketball at the age of fourc, as a kid, Tobias spent the same amount of time shooting hoops as much as playing rugby.
"It's part of being from New Zealand, we love rugby," he said. "I played a four (left lock/second-row forward) in sixth grade and I just love tackling people."
Rugby and basketball went hand in hand during Tobias' youth, but at the age of 15, he had to choose to focus on one sport.
"My brother and I had a conversation with my mom," he said. "She said that between rugby and basketball we need to choose one sport to go all-in at."
"I have always loved basketball more, so I promptly chose basketball. My brother chose rugby at first, though he didn't last very long."
Flynn eventually followed suit in basketball.
From then on, Tobias started doing individual training with his father, who, by then, was a coach for the New Zealand National Basketball League team, Waikato Pistons.
Having been part of the Gold Coast Wave since the under-12 team, Tobias' career took off when he decided to focus on basketball.
In 2016, he passed the national team trials and earned a spot in the New Zealand Under-19 national team for the FIBA U-19 World Championships.
The U-19 Tall Blacks defeated Australia for the first time in the Oceania Qualifiers finals, punching a ticket for the World Championships in Egypt.
"That moment was surreal," Tobias said. "If you know, we always do the Haka before the game, but just for this occasion, our team agreed that it is appropriate to perform another one post-game."
Tobias had the opportunity to start his career in Abilene Christian in the summer of that year, but the World Championship experience was one he could not miss. He got to experience more fo the FIBA basketball and play in the same field with the likes of New York Knicks' RJ Barrett.
He found his way to becoming a Wildcat through AUSA Basketball, an Australian agency that helps basketball players find scholarship opportunities and be student-athletes in the United States.
AUSA Basketball brings prospects to the U.S. to play in games to attract University coaches from all over the country.
Tobias received a handful of offers, but Abilene Christian was the only one that stood out.
"For one it was the only division I team that gave me an offer," he said. "But outside of that, none of the other teams went to me as invested as ACU."
In fall of 2017, Tobias made his move to Abilene, Texas, a city that he said is entirely different from that of Gold Coast.
"I grew up in a big metropolitan city by the east coast of Australia, and now I live in the center of Texas, far away from the water."
Flynn followed him to DePaul in January 2018 before transferring to U.C. Riverside in 2020.
It was a significant change for Tobias, but he is not new to change.
One hurdle that he had to go over was getting into the mindset of being a collegiate student-athlete.
"I came here (to ACU) and wasted a redshirt year," he said. "I couldn't get my academics right, couldn't get my head on straight."
It is common for us, international student-athletes, to get starstruck with the American way of living. Tobias said he had that issue, leading to struggles in academics and athletics. He admitted to taking his time in maturing and that the four years before this one was all part of his growth.
In this fifth year, Tobias is confident that he finally got his head straight on and off-court. The fruit of that process is him being in the starting lineup and getting his grades straight.
"And finding God as well. This is a Christian University, so it is a great opportunity for me to assert myself outside of basketball and school," he said. "I feel like this school (ACU) is meant for me. It really changed the person I am."
As a Wildcat, Tobias has left his mark on the floor. Aside from reaching the championship round of this year's WAC Basketball Tournament, he contributed to Abilene Christian's Southland Conference championship in the 2020-21 season, which was topped with an upset win over third-seeded Texas (53-52) in the first round of last year's March Madness.
In this year's WAC Basketball Tournament, Tobias's family was in Las Vegas to watch him play.
"It was the first time my mother watched me play in the States, and though it was unfortunate that my brother lost in the (Big West) top-eight against Hawaii, it was kind of nice for me since he get to watch ACU's championship against N.M. State," he said. "I was determined on giving it my all-knowing my dad, mom and brother are in the stands."
Tobias will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts and a minor in psychology this May and is currently weighing on his options for his future.
One thing is for sure; he said he will still be playing basketball wherever in the world it requires him to be.
"I love travelling, I have been travelling the world since I was younger, I'm used to being away from family and making new friends, so I'm ready for anything."
