Tomic Builds A Brotherhood With The Bulldogs
April 24, 2024 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – It's not uncommon for freshmen to experience a little bit of homesickness during their first few days and weeks of college.
The only difference in the case of Mississippi State's Radomir Tomic is that the rookie tennis star happened to be attending school in a foreign country halfway around the globe away from his family and learning an entirely new culture and language.
A couple of weeks after enrolling last August, Tomic believed that college just wasn't for him and asked his coaches to send him back home to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"Everything was new for me - school, people, language - everything was new and strange," Tomic said. "The first two weeks, I didn't figure out a good way on how to handle all that stress and everything so literally after the first two weeks, I wanted to leave and wanted to go back home. Then after a time, I realized that everyone here is friendly. Over time, I kind of relaxed with my teammates and they became like brothers. They were like, 'whatever you need, we are here for you'. The first semester was good, it was just those first 2-3 weeks that were kind of difficult."
Tomic had mixed results on the court during his first fall, posting a 2-2 singles record. He remembers approaching assistant coach Jake Jacoby after one of those early losses and begging him for a plane ticket back home. Jacoby assured him that he was not the first freshman to experience those feelings and wouldn't be the last and encouraged him to stick around a little longer.
Tomic took Jacoby's advice and eventually the bond between Tomic and his new teammates began to take shape. At first, Tomic gravitated towards fellow Balkans Petar Jovanovic, Nemanja Malesevic and Dusan Milanovic. But that comradery soon extended to the rest of the team, especially fellow freshmen Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes and Marshall Landry.
"Initially, it was a really big change for him," Jacoby said. "But then he became really close with the team. He really got close with all the Balkans we have here. It's like a Balkan factory. That really helped him off the court to have some brothers here, another family a few thousand miles away. That helped him gain confidence as a person and also on the court."
Once Tomic started to get comfortable in his new surroundings, his tennis started to flourish. He has been a mainstay in MSU's singles lineup throughout much of the spring. He has racked up 10 total wins, including opening dual match play by winning his first five singles matches in January.
But tennis is far from the only talent Tomic possesses. Back in his hometown of Zvornik, he taught himself all sorts of things like dancing, playing the piano and even how to solve a Rubik's cube in record time just by watching YouTube videos.
Tomic amazed his team – as well as several onlooking tourists and staff - with one of his hidden talents during one of their road trips this spring when he sat down at the grand piano in their hotel lobby and began playing in perfect harmony.
"No one expected me to start playing the piano and I didn't really tell anybody so when I started playing, they were shocked," Tomic said.
That is just one example of the growth Tomic has experienced this season as he continues to get comfortable in his own skin and new setting during his freshman campaign.
"This year I improved more as a person than in the last four years back home because you have a different environment and mature people, wise people older than me, coaches with the level of experience and so many athletes that you can talk to from around the world," Tomic said "You can't help but get more mature and wiser.  I think by the time I come back next year, I will be more mature and a totally different person than I am now."
