One whirlwind year ago, Samuel Nadeau was bunking at his basketball coach Darryl Gladden's house and attending Burlington Life Center Academy (N.J.) as a promising high school junior. These days, Nadeau, who turned 18 in July, does interviews on his cell phone as he rushes around Madrid, Spain.

Last winter, the teen averaged 28 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for the Life Center Academy Warriors en route to USA TODAY New Jersey honorable mention honors. This fall, he's fulfilling the terms of a five-year, $1.8 million contract he signed this spring with the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto 2000 champions, Real Madrid. From bush league to big league, practically overnight.

"My idea was always to go to an American college," says Nadeau, who speaks four languages (Spanish, French, English and Creole). "But I didn't see my mother, who lives in Paris, for two years when I was in the U.S. Then she told me she was sick (with Hepatitis C). I decided I wouldn't stay in the states. At that same time, Real Madrid came calling. It was an easy decision."

Nadeau's scholar-athlete resume is like a cartoon suitcase, spattered with the stickers and stamps of the various cities it has passed through. At the moment, that suitcase sits in Madrid, where its owner is being home-schooled through his final year of high school and hopes to earn a G.E.D. next year.

As a high school freshman, the 6-foot-6, 200-pound swingman played for one of France's elite club teams, LeVallois, just outside Paris. His electrifying scoring ability earned Nadeau a spot on the French Junior National team. But the French coaching staff wanted Nadeau to anchor himself in the low post and use his size. The fit was lousy. So at the urging of friend and confidant Sy Babacar, the French version of American recruiting guru Bob Gibbons, Nadeau came stateside in search of a college scholarship.

His sophomore season at East Side High (Newark, N.J.) in 1998-99 was followed by last summer's California workouts as an enrollee at West Coast powerhouse Artesia High (Lakewood, Calif.). But two months later, Nadeau landed on Gladden's doorstep in search of greener pastures. "Artesia just didn't work out," says Nadeau.

A standout junior season at Life Center, followed by an impressive showing at this past April's Nike/Boo Williams Invitational Tournament (Hampton, Va.), got Nadeau noticed. Major Division I programs began courting the teen, but Real Madrid came calling, scouted a pickup game and promptly offered him a contract worth $360,000 a year.

"For Europe, for a kid of my age, that's an incredible offer," says Nadeau, who signed his pro deal well before DeShawn Stevenson of Washington Union High (Calif.) and Darius Miles of East St. Louis High (Ill.) inked NBA contracts with the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers, respectively. "But I eventually want to come back to the states because that's where basketball is really played. The game is slow here. I'll do what I have to do for now."

"Sam's focus and his drive and his versatile game make him a great player," says Gladden, 41, who set the school career assists mark under Paul Westhead at Division I La Salle University (Philadelphia, Pa.) before eight-year NBA veteran Doug Overton broke it in 1991. "He's also just a great guy and mature guy who really loves the game."

Nadeau rises every morning at 7, before the Mediterranean sun gets baking, and punishes himself through solo drills on the outdoor court at his apartment complex.

Around 10, Nadeau heads out to lift weights. Next comes lunch, followed by a little massage and physiotherapy at the team's Centro Medico. Then, home for CNN ("the only way I keep up on the world in a country with two channels," he says), PlayStation and a nap. Every evening brings a grueling team practice. Real Madrid's season begins in October. Training camp started this past weekend.

Not that the league champs' new bonus baby can expect much playing time this season. Nadeau, who ultimately projects as a point guard if he draws the NBA interest he's expected to, is buried at two-guard and small forward in Europe. The Spanish pro league's general disdain for his transition style is no help. Plus, the teen sits behind sweet-shooting two guard Alberto Herreros, Spain's most prolific backcourt scorer, former Phoenix Sun guard Marko Milic as well as two gifted small forwards.

But Nadeau knows his limitations and he knows his potential. And with an escape clause built into each concluded season of his Spanish contract, he might get that NBA opportunity sooner rather than later.

"I can ballhandle, shoot, jump and shoot," says Nadeau. "I can do a little bit of everything and I'm still growing, but I need to work on it all. I need to improve my defense a lot. This year, I just need to work hard and learn and go from there."