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In case you didn’t already know this, former UConn Huskies star Kia Nurse is a big deal in her home country of Canada.
Not only is she the face of Nike Canada, she is the face of the Canadian Women’s Basketball National Team with whom she has played since she was 16 years old.
Guess who I found in downtown Toronto at the Toronto Waterfront? @KayNurse11 @NikeCanada @nyliberty !! @CanBball Visibility matters. pic.twitter.com/WTEsve3Eib
— Aneela (@WHoopsBlogger) August 4, 2018
When UConn visited Canada to take on Duquesne in December of 2017, the Mattamy Athletic Centre was sold-out. There were Kia Nurse signs everywhere.
It gave little girls growing up in Canada a chance to see one of their own, which in itself is a rare thing due to the lack of exposure of the women’s game in Canada. That’s not to say they don’t get the coverage, it’s more of when the women’s national team isn’t playing.
Nurse has big plans to change that and grow the women’s basketball game in Canada though.
We caught up with Nurse in Bridgeport, CT on Friday night after Team Canada beat Japan in the Road to the World Cup exhibition series. She talked about what she took from her rookie campaign in the WNBA with the New York Liberty, her plans to grow the game in Canada and going up against her former UConn teammate, Napheesa Collier, when they take on Team USA Saturday night in Bridgeport.