She never would have thought she’d be the tallest player in Oregon women’s basketball history. Five years ago, she hadn’t even heard of the sport itself.
Oregon freshman center Phillipina Kyei’s family immigrated from Ghana to Calgary, Canada, when she was 13 years old. In a country that was learning to love basketball the way it’s adored in America, Kyei was the next student. She began to pick up the game as a form of making new friends, but those goals changed quickly.
After a few years of playing in Calgary, she realized basketball could be more than a hobby. She left Calgary for Toronto’s Crestwood Prep — one of the nation’s top preparatory schools that prides itself on preparing its players for the college level. Once she arrived in Toronto, Crestwood Prep coaches Marlo Davis and Ro Russell felt that Kyei belonged.
“She transitioned well,” Davis said. “When she got to Toronto, there were more like-minded people: obsessed with basketball and talking about going Division I.”
At Crestwood Prep, Kyei landed on the Ducks’ radar.
Now, she brings facets from her adopted country to Eugene, where she has quickly adjusted to a new lifestyle and teammates. She began to gain recognition during the recent Canadian basketball surge — one that promoted domestic development, international recruitment and gender equality.
In a country dominated by hockey, a new sport has taken root. The Canadian basketball surge began in 1995 once the Toronto Raptors joined the Vancouver Grizzlies as the second NBA team in Canada.
Davis referred to this movement as the Vince Carter Effect. The flashy Raptors guard who could jump out of the gym wowed the world when he won the NBA Dunk Contest in 2000.
He was the pride of Toronto. Drafted by the Raptors in 1998, Carter led them to three playoff berths and made six All-Star appearances.
“When the Raptors came to Canada, it started to draw a crowd of basketball lovers,” Davis said. “Those people had kids, and because they loved basketball, now their kids are the ones pursuing the game.”
Russell, who also coaches at Crestwood Prep, works with many of those kids who brought their Canadian upbringing to the United States, such as Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kia Nurse.
The rise in Canadian stars can be attributed in part to the recent abundance of prep schools — an idea that was popularized in the United States –– which allowed players who recently graduated high school to play and get recruited by Division I programs.
“The last generation of players would go to prep school in America for a year before going Division I,” Davis said. “A lot of coaches got to the point of saying ‘Why do we need to go to America to go to prep school when we can create it here?’”
Canada recently began to create domestic prep schools, incentivizing American recruiters to cross the border to get a look at Canadian talent. Along with numerous other prep schools, Crestwood Prep plays tournaments in America to maximize the exposure of its players.
Prep schools prepare their players for the expectations that come with playing at the college level. Kyei quickly adjusted to Oregon’s rigorous three-hour practices and five days a week of weightlifting, while juggling a packed school schedule.
“The prep school workouts helped me when it comes to our conditioning practices because my coach was very tough on us,” Kyei said.
The prep school surge has led to many opportunities for young Canadian basketball players
to showcase their talent. The surge hasn’t neglected equality, as basketball programs throughout the country prioritize equal funding to both their men’s and women’s teams.
Kyei played for the U15 and U17 Team Alberta, and in her experience, she felt men and women were treated equally.
“In Canada, they don’t care about male or female; it’s just basketball,” Kyei said.
Equal opportunity has helped provide more chances for women’s basketball players. Nurse, alongside former Crestwood Prep stars Aaliyah Edwards and Shayeann Day-Wilson, has paved the way for younger players to see that they can also make it to the next level.
“Putting the money, the time and the resources into the women are paying off,” Russell said. “A lot of them are getting trained and developed in Canada and then playing Division I in America.”
“[Kyei] is next up,” Russell said.
She’s begun to make a name for herself as an intimidating paint presence, capable of affecting the shot of any defender who drives the lane. In the Ducks’ game against Dixie State on Nov. 14, 2021, Kyei showcased her rim-protecting prowess. She sent an opposing player’s shot three rows deep into the student section.
Her offensive game has blossomed as well. She uses a plethora of hooks and pivot dribbles to put the ball in the cup, and she’s always active on the offensive glass.
Kyei has the makings of an imposing post player. The next step is to do it with consistency.
“She needs to want to block everybody and let her presence be felt so that even when she doesn’t block a shot her presence forces a miss,” Davis said.
Luckily for the Ducks, Kyei’s a fast learner. She heeds the advice of her more experienced teammates and sets lofty, yet attainable goals. Kyei wants to help lead the Oregon women’s basketball team to the Final Four and play at the next level.
“She’s a woman on a mission, trying to get to the WNBA and the final four with the Ducks’ women team,” Russell said. “Being goal-oriented allows her to be adaptable.”
In the short span of five years, she moved from Ghana to Calgary and learned a new sport that changed her life, before going to prep school in Toronto and committing to Oregon. While constantly adapting to her new surroundings, Kyei stayed focused on her goal.
