SIKA KONE GOT off the bus and approached the gate to an outdoor basketball facility in Bamako, Mali. She was late — days late — but she told herself she needed to at least try. This was her big shot.
It was 2016, and the 14-year-old Kone had just heard from one of her friends that a basketball camp was being held in town. The best players at the four-day camp would be given full scholarships to Canterbury School, a British academy in Spain. The only problem: Kone had missed the first two days.
Uncertain if she’d even be allowed to participate, or if she could make up for the lost time, Kone agonized over whether she should go. Her mom pressed the money she’d need for her bus fare into her hands and asked her to try.
When Kone arrived at the gate, she had already achieved a lot in basketball in very little time. She had been introduced to the game four years earlier, and her love took root right away. She knew if she got a chance to show her newfound skills the coaches wouldn’t be disappointed. And she knew what was at stake: a chance to immerse herself in the sport she loved, a chance to train with better coaches in better facilities, a chance to make her mom proud.
She approached the coaches and decided to be honest. She had only heard about the camp that morning, she told them. Give me one chance to show you my skills, she said. The coaches waved her in.
She quickly showed them their decision was a wise one. She hit 3-pointers, she grabbed rebounds, she dominated on defense.
“I was not nervous,” she said. “When I am on the court, I am just playing.”
It was after the camp, while the coaches deliberated, that nerves did set in. Had she done enough? In half the time?
Then came the announcement: Sika Kone, full scholarship to Spain.
She could hear her heart beat in her chest. She had made it.
On Monday, nearly six years after that life-changing camp, Kone will be waiting to hear her name called yet again, this time during the 2022 WNBA draft (7 p.m. ET, ESPN). The…
Source : espn
