Team’s youngest player ‘fearless.’
Darnell’s younger sister, Kia, is on Canadian senior women’s hoops team
Before you can get into what Kia Nurse does, and does exceptionally well, there are formalities to get out of the way.
Yes, she’s Darnell Nurse’s little sister. Before Darnell was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers — seventh overall in June’s NHL entry draft — she and her family sat in the front row of the stands at Newark, N.J., just a few feet from Edmonton’s table. Her intuition told her Darnell would soon be an Oiler and that she would be seeing him here come September, when training camp begins.
Kia, who is in Edmonton with the Canadian senior women’s basketball team, and Darnell come from a deep gene pool. Their uncle is former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb and their father, Richard, is a former Hamilton Tiger-Cat. Their mother, Kathy, played basketball at McMaster University. The list goes on. Their sister, Tamika, played basketball at the University of Oregon and their aunt, Raquel (Richard’s sister and McNabb’s wife), played basketball at Syracuse University.
So when Lisa Thomaidis, the national women’s basketball coach, answers the question on Kia before the words are out of your mouth — “She’ll be with us, for sure” — it shouldn’t be surprising.
Except that Kia, a fivefoot-eight point guard, is the youngest player on the team, at just 17 years of age. She should be on the national junior team or competing for Ontario at the Canada Summer Games.
“We had some injuries and a retirement at the point guard position (veteran Teresa Gabriel), so we had to fast track her, but she’s fit in remarkably well,” Thomaidis said.
Nurse still has her senior year at St. Thomas More high school in Hamilton to complete. Her college decision only got muddled this summer as she climbed the basketball ladder and caught the attention of heavyweight NCAA programs l ike the University of Connecticut.
“( NCAA interest) has jumped,” Kia said. “I’ve gotten some really big-name schools (expressing interest) now, but at the same time, it’s really important to keep it in check and make sure that Lisa talks with the coaches to make sure they’re OK with me playing for the national team and that I can get out for summers, do all the (national) team stuff, and not be pressured to stay.
“I have goals to be involved with this team as an Olympian.”
If being accepted to the top woman’s team in the country when college players are often considered young additions isn’t indication enough, the national team has plans for Kia to be an Olympian as well.
“She’s an exceptional athlete,” Thomaidis said. “She’s got world-class speed, so her ability to guard the ball and her ability to push the ball in transition … and she’s fearless. Her ability to get to the rim and draw fouls is probably one of her biggest strengths right now.
“I think she’ll stay with this team for a while.”
In putting up competent numbers in a series of exhibition games in China this summer with the senior women’s team (averaging 8.2 points and 3.3 rebounds), highlighted by a 17-point, eightrebound night in Canada’s 64-45 win over Puerto Rico, Kia shows she is absorbing everything she can from her more experienced teammates.
She’s only missing out off the court right now.
“I think socially (it’s been difficult). They’re all a bit older than me, so … ” Kia said, trailing off.
So she’s on her own when the girls planned outings on nights off. But that’s part of the territory, she said.
“It’s sacrifices. You have to learn that as you get older and get to the higher level ... you see the kids that are all my age on Facebook and Twitter going to (Canada’s) Wonderland and camping and you have to be here in the gym.
“But I really love the game, so it doesn’t matter. And at the same time, I’m travelling to Brazil.”
The women’s team wrapped up its four-day stay in Edmonton on Monday. After a pit stop in Toronto, the team travels to Brazil for a series of exhibition games against Brazil, Puerto Rico and Argentina. They’ll return to the Saville Community Sports Centre in September before the FIBA Americas Championship tips off in Mexico from Sept. 21-28.