SKYLIGHTS FROM LANDS FAR, FAR AWAY

In most cases, every college athlete is a long way from home. But, in the case of Montana State University-Northern Skylights Gokce Aslan and Petra Sellin, getting home requires international flights and a lot of hours in the air.

To be precise, Aslan, who hails from Ankara, Turkey, is a staggering 5,905 miles from home, while Sellin, who comes from Angelholm, Sweden, is a whopping 4,477 miles away from where she grew up. And those miles are what makes them unlike most college basketball players.

But, what both Skylights have in common with every other woman playing college basketball across the country is - the game itself.

They both grew up wanting to play hoops, watching it on TV, and, because it's now a global game, they got that chance in America.

"You can't do both basketball and school in Turkey," Aslan said. "And that's something I wanted to do. I grew up watching the NBA, and I told my mom when I was little, I was going to play in the NBA one day. Obviously, I couldn't do that, but I had a coach when I was younger, and she recommended to me that I go to America and play in college."

Sellin followed a similar dream to the United States.

"Coming here to play college basketball had been my goal for a long time," she said. "I had a cousin who came to (the states) to play, and I wanted to go to college and play basketball, and you don't get those opportunities in Sweden."

Both would get those opportunities in America, though their paths to Northern were certainly a winding one, with a lot of airline miles.

Aslan, Northern's lightning quick, 5-3 point guard, first landed in America at Western Nebraska, and then Highlands in Illinois, two junior colleges. Then, she moved on to Fort Hayes State, an NCAA Division II program in Kansas, before making her way to Northern for her final year of college. Sellin originally went to DII Cameron University in Oklahoma, before MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat recruited her to Northern.

So, before even becoming Skylights, both Aslan and Sellin have had quite the journey, and, as expected, it hasn't always been easy.

"When I first got here, I got lost in the Denver airport," Aslan said. "It kind of scared me. So it took me some time to adjust at first, but this was my goal and I made it here, and eventually, I felt like I belonged.

"I thought my English would be the hardest part (about coming to the states)," Sellin added. "But that turned out to be the least difficult part."

Indeed, while both admit there are still some language barriers, communication hasn't been much of an issue during their stay in America. Instead, when pressed about what is the hardest part about being so far away from their native countries, both gave an interesting take.

"The food," Aslan said with a laugh. "It's just different. Here it's like you eat hamburgers, pizza and hamburgers again. I just eat a lot differently at home.

"Food," Sellin continued while laughing. "I miss Swedish food. But the hard part about being away from home is obviously missing family and friends."

While both Aslan and Sellin would elaborate about missing their favorite Turkish or Swedish dishes, there are plenty of other things they miss about their cultures, and things they love to share about their homelands with their Skylight teammates and newfound friends in America.

"Sweden is a beautiful country," Sellin said. "There are so many different things to see. There are big cities, the beautiful mountains in the north, and beaches in the south. There is something for everyone.

"I tell people all the time, Turkey is very modern, very European," Aslan noted. "I have to explain to people that it's not a dangerous place. The people are very, very nice in Turkey. And there's so much to see and do."

No question, both Skylights are extremely proud of their homes and where they came from, but, at the same time, neither country really afforded them the opportunity to chase their basketball dreams.

"In Sweden, it's pretty much all hockey and soccer," Sellin said. "There isn't a lot of basketball there. You can't even go out and by a pair of basketball shoes in the stores there."

That of course, it not the case in America, and while there have been hard times for both, being a combined 10,000 miles from home, the Skylights and the global game of basketball have brought them together, and to a place where they can fulfill childhood dreams.

And the game, especially at Northern is one thing, neither Sellin, nor Aslan has had a hard time adjusting to.

"Basketball is the reason I came here," Aslan said. "I love the game. And here at Northern, it's amazing. It's amazing how everyone cares and supports us.

"A few of the rules are different, but for the most part, basketball is something we all have in common, and so that part has been the easiest part for me," Sellin added. "And here, I love how everyone cares a lot about basketball and about our team. Everyone in town comes to the games. It's not like that in Sweden. So that's very exciting."

Yes, basketball is what got Gokce Aslan and Petra Sellin on airplanes, across oceans and eventually to Havre. Basketball is what brought them to America, and together as Skylights.

And while things are always going to be different for Northern's two student-athletes who are, no doubt, the two people furthest from home currently inhabiting MSU-N's campus, Aslan and Sellin are doing exactly what everybody in college basketball is doing right now, chasing a dream.

They just had to log a lot more miles to continue that chase.