Aug. 6, 2007

SAN MARCOS - by Bart Isley
Published with the permission of the San Marcos Daily Record

In the various arenas of the Southland Conference, it can occasionally get very loud if there's a championship on the line. Texas State players have also played in some Big 12 arenas where crowds can also get loud during any contest.

But never, at least it's never been documented widely, has a Southland or Big 12 crowd arrived with an extensive series of chants and songs accompanied by large, booming African drums.

That was the scene that greeted Texas State's Joyce Ekworomadu this summer when she played in eight games for the Nigerian national team at the All-Africa Cup in Algeria. Loud, booming drums and wild arenas filled with large crowds.

"Basketball is huge there and it's cultural, you're playing for the country," Ekworomadu said. "It gets so loud and it makes you want to play harder."

Ekworomadu, an All-SLC second teamer for Texas State, joined the Nigerian squad this summer and helped lead the squad to the All-Africa championship where the Nigerians fell to their archrival, Senegal. Nigeria won every game leading up to the championship, but even with the disappointing 60-46 loss to Senegal, it's pretty clear Ekworomadu wouldn't trade her experiences on the trip and the opportunity to represent Nigeria for anything.

"I think it enhanced my skills as a player, but it makes me not take things for granted too," Ekworomadu said. "Every American should go overseas for at least a month."

Drums weren't the only difference in the game that Ekworomadu found in Africa. She also discovered a chippier, more aggressive form of basketball and some intense rivalries on the continent. Ekworomadu said that Senegal refused to shake hands with the Nigerian squad before or after the pool play game and the bad blood spilled onto the court too.

"It was an intense moment," Ekworomadu said. "In the game, the girls were cheapshotting all over the place. (Throughout the tournament) there was way more contact and everyone was way more aggressive than playing college ball. The referees just let people play."

The rising senior's parents, Samuel and Justina Ekworomadu, were both born in Nigeria and came to the United States shortly before their only child was born in 1986. Joyce spent a number of summers in her parents' native country, traveling there every other year.

That family lineage gave Ekworomadu the chance to expand her game and take on an entirely different role with a team. Ekworomadu has played a small forward style position for the Bobcats over the last three seasons, but she ran the point for Nigeria despite the fact that it was the first time she'd ever played the position in her career. Under the tutelage of Nigerian National coach Kevin Cook, who is also an assistant for the WNBA's Houston Comets, Ekworomadu learned on the fly how to become a scoring, slashing point guard.

"He (Cook) gave me so much feedback because at first I wasn't excited about playing the point," Ekworomadu said. "But I trusted his advice because he's worked with the best."

One of the hardest parts about playing point guard for Nigeria though was the fact that several of the players were older than Ekworomadu and Cook expected her to direct and lead. That's not an easy task for a first time point guard playing with several elite level players.

"It's a lot of responsibility to direct people that are a lot older than me, but they listened," Ekworomadu said. "I loved directing traffic and getting into the flow of the game."

Ekworomadu has already discussed her desire to move to the point for Texas State this fall with head coach Suzanne Fox, particularly with the influx of forwards the program is getting in 2007.

In the meantime, her leadership also seems to have paid dividends for Nigeria. While the unbeaten run through the tournament ended in the championship game, the team was clutch, winning a pair of nail-biters with Senegal and Tunisia in pool play.

Ekworomadu was critical to the win over Tunisia, pouring in 21 in the 56-54 victory. She also played all 40 minutes of the championship against Senegal and scored 12 points. The only blemish in the championship was a 2-for-6 performance at the free-throw line, which prompted Cook to order a 300-free-throw-a-day regimen when Ekworomadu returned to the United States.

Ekworomadu played against a number of elite players from the United States who made the trip to represent various African nations, but several top-flight players and familiar faces were wearing the same jersey as Ekworomadu. Stephen F. Austin's Charity Egenti, the 2006 Southland player of the year who signed a contract with the Phoenix Mercury in April and UT-San Antonio's Vivian Ewalefo, another first team All-SLC player in 2006, both suited up for the Nigerian squad. West Virginia center Olayinka Sanni, a first team All-Big East player, also played for Nigeria.

The experience for Ekworomadu is slated to continue when Nigeria heads to an Olympic qualifier in Senegal. A number of WNBA players that didn't participate in the All-Africa Cup are supposed to join with various countries including the L.A. Sparks' Mwadi Mabika, a native of the Congo. That trip will likely mean another 16 hour flight to Africa for Ekworomadu.

"Those flights are crazy," Ekworomadu said. "And we were in coach, so there's no leg room."

It's pretty obvious that for Ekworomadu, that's a small price to pay for the chance to represent Nigeria and play against some of the best players in the world.