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Omowumi “Ki-ke” Rafiu loves that basketball continues to evolve into a global game. The sport’s appeal has enabled her to go from picking up a ball by chance only four years ago to being the starting small forward for the varsity team at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St. Almost six months into her life in the United States, the 16-year-old junior has already given non-league foes fits and hopes to harass Catholic League competition beginning next month.
Rafiu hails from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and the world’s eighth biggest with more than 152 million people. She had no exposure to sports before a fortuitous encounter with a boy whom she saw bouncing a basketball.
“I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was going to exercise. I followed him and developed an interest immediately,” Rafiu said of the game, which she terms a “natural fit” for her.
Basketball owes its popularity in Nigeria to National Basketball Association Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who spent 18 years with the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors, leading the former to NBA crowns in 1994 and ’95. Though Olajuwon has earned immense popularity in Nigeria, an encounter last summer with another prominent figure in the country’s basketballs annals — a one-week stay at a camp run by Cleveland Cavalier Ejike Ugboaje — led to Rafiu’s American adventure.
As part of the Ejike Ugboaje Foundation, the 25-year-old hosts camps for boys and girls to enhance their skills. Having blossomed from a curious girl into a small forward for the Sunshine Angels in the city of Akure, Rafiu attended a camp last July.
Through her time with the Angels and her camp experience, she came to the attention of Mike Flynn, director of the Philadelphia Belles Nike Travel Team, eventually earning a spot on his Amateur Athletic Union squad that she joined up with last summer. Flynn also helped set up her American schooling.
Rafiu made one more trip to Nigeria and returned to begin her new schooling at Neumann-Goretti, where the speaker of four languages is adding mastering French to her quest to perfect her offensive and defensive talents.
“School is slightly different here,” Rafiu, who lives with a host family in Clementon, N.J., while her family, including four siblings, roots for her from Nigeria, said. “Back home, secondary school is six years. I would be a senior there.”
She enjoys mathematics most and her favorite subject reveals another difference between her former and current educational systems.
“In Nigeria, we learn all math at once, whereas here I have separation into algebra and geometry. That separation interests me,” she said.
A practicing Muslim, Rafiu has needed to make adjustments to her prayer schedule, as class time conflicts with her ability to make her midday offering.
“I just pray when school is over,” she said of adapting to her time commitments.
She has not needed to adapt much to going from a public to a private school and has easily, because of her exposure to different religions, taken in her new school’s Catholic emphasis.
“The biggest change is probably having to wear a uniform,” she said smiling.
Donning a Saints jersey has proven easy for Rafiu, whose first name translates as “I want a child.”
“My mom gave it to me,” she said of her given name.
Most times she goes by her nickname, which is a shortened form of a term that translates as “pet a child.”
“It could also be ‘adore a child’ or ‘cherish a child,’” she said.
She may take to the court with a name that implies nascency, but she nourishes a style predicated on heart and hustle.
“I love offense and defense equally,” the 6-foot-3 force said of her roles for first-year coach Stephen Skedzielewski’s junior-heavy squad.
She gorges herself on college and professional basketball to enhance her moves.
“I feel odd about saying this, but I try to copy many players I watch. I have to look at basketball every night before I go to bed to see what else I can learn,” she said.
When looking to score, she relies on post-up moves she has picked up from studying Boston Celtics’ star Kevin Garnett, her favorite player. On the defensive end, she looks to alter as many shots as possible.
“I love to block shots. I want to have at least one block per game,” she noted.
The Saints took the court for their first home game after press time yesterday. Through their first six contests, they compiled a 4-2 record. Individually, Rafiu is averaging 11.3 points per game and has twice scored 14 points.
The new year will continue to foster Rafiu’s maturation as the team’s Catholic League schedule, which begins with a Jan. 4 clash against Cardinal O’Hara, promises no easy contests. Their 10th league scrum will match them against Archbishop Carroll, who last year won what Rafiu wants this year for her bunch — the Catholic League championship.
“My team goal is to have us win the Catholic League. With the kind of teammates I have and with the heart I bring to the team, I think we can do it,” she said of their prospects.
Individual goals abound for Rafiu, too.
“I want to encourage my teammates. I want to be someone they can look up to because I give my best effort. I also want a triple-double,” she said of accumulating double digits in any three statistical categories.
If she has her way, her feat will involve points, rebounds and blocked shots. Olajuwon is one of four NBA players to record a quadruple-double, so to emulate her nation’s hero, she may have to perfect her passing, too.
“I am all about being versatile, just like Garnett,” she said of the ’04 Most Valuable Player and ’08 Defensive Player of the Year whose team will face the Orlando Magic Christmas Day.
“I’ll be watching to see what moves I can borrow from him,” she said.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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