Denison tennis players Andreas Chapides ’26 and Kael Shah ’26 have experience living with incompatible roommates, the kind who launch a thousand late-night rants.
Before moving in together in 2019 at Emilio Sanchez American High School in Spain, Chapides lived with a messy tennis player who subsisted on snacks and Xbox, rarely leaving his room in his free time. At least he was quiet. Not so for the occupants sharing a six-man dorm with Shah in 2022 at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“It was so noisy, I could barely sleep at night from all the partying,” Shah said. “I had to leave. I moved to a different building.”
Good roommates are an invaluable asset to the educational experience, and it’s one reason why Shah’s next move was to Granville to reconnect with Chapides. He considers his transfer to Denison one of the best decisions of his life.
Shah, of Kenya, and Chapides, of Cyprus, have known each other for nine years and been roommates for six, including the past three years at Denison. It’s been a mutually beneficial partnership for the students and the university.
The Global Commerce majors have thrived in academic, athletic, and social environments. Chapides and Shah, the winningest player in program history, have played key roles in transforming the Big Red into a Division III national power — one that captured the 2025 NCAA Tournament championship.
“It’s really one of the most special relationships that I’ve seen in my years coaching,” Denison men’s tennis coach David Schilling said of his co-captains. “They are truly like brothers. They squabble like brothers; they support each other like brothers; they know each other inside out. They’re each other’s biggest fans.”
A friendship blossoms
It doesn’t take long to figure out what’s important to the four seniors who occupied Room 206 in Silverstein Hall this past academic year.
How many students have a racket stringing machine in their common area?
The apartment was home to Shah, Chapides, Ethan Green ’26, and Nickawn Namdar ’26. Green, who roomed with Chapides and Shah over the years, has had a front row seat to their friendship.
“They’re always doing something together like making jokes, playing games, doing random things,” Green said. “They can get on each other’s nerves, but it’s all in fun.”
Chapides is the more vocal flatmate, “an alpha male-plus,” in the words of Schilling.
“Kael is a little bit more reserved, and Chapi is, you know, much more bravado, and much more chest out, chin up,” the coach said.
While living in Barcelona, Chapides became friends with Shah’s older brother, Keean, before getting to know Kael. Shah isn’t sure he would have remained in Barcelona had Keean not been his roommate for the first two years.
When Keean moved to the United States to attend Fairfield University, Chapides and the younger Shah became roommates at a school renowned for its tennis academy.
“We were on similar levels in tennis,” Chapides said. “We were in class together and on the courts together, and in the gym together. Spending so much time around each other, we kind of bonded.”
For roommates, apartments are like tennis courts. They come with boundaries, and it’s important to give each other space. It helps that Shah and Chapides share so many interests. Their active lifestyles don’t leave them time to fight over control of the television or the common areas.
Of course, you can’t live together that long without having a few tendencies that irritate a roommate. While both are tidy, Shah strives for organization and order at all times. He doesn’t like the sight of an unfolded towel or shirt.
“When something happens, he likes to fix it immediately,” Chapides said. “I’m someone who knows it needs to be fixed, but I can wait until the night. It’s small stuff, nothing major.”
Chapides calls home to Cyprus frequently, and when he does, he treats his cellphone more like a megaphone.
“Everyone in the apartment can hear the conversation,” Shah said, laughing.
Friendly advice
Longtime friends and roommates Kael Shah ’26 and Andreas Chapides ’26 combined to create a top-10 list for how not to drive your roommates crazy:
- Respect their personal space.
- Ask before you use their stuff.
- Clean up after yourself.
- Communicate openly when something bothers you.
- Don’t invite people over without their permission.
- Don’t take their food.
- Be quiet if you come back late and they are sleeping (don’t turn the lights on).
- Respect when they are trying to study.
- Take turns doing stuff like taking the trash out.
- Use headphones when listening to loud music and videos.
‘I’ve loved it here’
Chapides recalled standing in the Barcelona airport in the summer of 2022, wondering when, or if, he would see Shah again.
Schilling had recruited both players. Chapides made an early commitment to Denison, while Shah waited, eventually settling on Drexel, which has a Division I tennis program.
International students often enroll in an American college without visiting it. That was the case with Shah and Drexel in Philadelphia. Within a month, he was questioning his decision, and his concerns ran deeper than noisy neighbors.
“I was getting emails about robberies and shootings,” Shah said. “Midway through the semester, there was a robbery right outside our residence hall.”
Shah and Chapides were texting daily. It wasn’t long before Shah entered the transfer portal with hopes of coming to Denison. Schilling encouraged him to apply.
The quintet of Shah, Chapides, Green, Jacob Patterson ’26, and Anthony Payiavlas ’26 is the cornerstone of a legendary Denison recruiting class. They helped the Big Red reach the NCAA quarterfinals as sophomores and won the program’s first NCAA title as juniors.
(Photo courtesy Stockton Photo, Inc.)
Shah is a two-time NCAA singles runner-up, but his appreciation for Denison extends beyond tennis.
“I’ve loved it here,” said Shah, a President’s Medalist recipient. “Walking around campus, it’s much, much more like a community. Class sizes are small. I’ve gotten to know so many people and made friends here.”
Denison classmates and professors marvel at how two young men from different cultures have stayed together from their time in Barcelona to their adopted home on The Hill. Even during the three years they didn’t live together, Shah and Chapides were next-door neighbors.
“People think it’s crazy, they can’t believe it,” Chapides said. “Our Global Commerce professors are like, ‘What, you’ve been together how long?’”
Having known each other for nearly a decade, Shah and Chapides have witnessed tremendous growth in each other. Shah lauds his teammate’s leadership abilities.
“He cares for everyone on the team,” Shah said of Chapides. “He’d drop anything to help someone, even with the toughest problems. He’d offer advice even if it has nothing to do with tennis. He’s someone our whole team relies on for guidance.”
Chapides admires Shah’s willingness to play year-round. Shah has represented Kenya in major international tournaments and helped it earn its first tennis medal at the World University Games in 2025.
Shah plans to play professionally in Europe next season. Chapides has one more year of college eligibility due to a knee injury he suffered in his sophomore year, and he might play in graduate school. He, too, would like to give pro tennis a shot.
Schilling doesn’t think their partnership will end after graduation.
“I think somehow they’ll find themselves together again,” the coach said. “Kael and Chapi and the relationship they have built is one of my favorite experiences in my coaching career. The two of them together are much stronger than either one of them individually.”
