“She is very athletic and has a lot of natural talent. She can jump out of a jam, and she has very good hands,” said Bruce Langford, head coach of the SFU women’s basketball team, describing the 6’2” forward from Toronto.
Raincock-Ekunwe, who last played with SFU in the 2012-13 season, is not new to professional basketball, having spent the 2013-14 season playing with the Espérance Sportive Pully of the Swiss Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNBA). She was fourth in the league in scoring with an average of 20 points per game, as well as being first in blocking and rebounds.
“My first season in Europe was good. It was different than playing at SFU but I enjoyed every minute of it and I learned a lot,” she told The Peak.
Her transition to professional basketball was “quite easy” due to her experience at SFU, said Raincock-Ekunwe: “Our practices were always intense, our training was intense, we went hard every day. In Europe, you’re practicing every day, you’re shooting in the morning, practicing at night. It was really no different from me being at SFU in terms of the level of competitiveness and level of intensity.”
However, after a year in the Swiss league, Raincock-Ekunwe felt that she needed to play at a higher level in the “much better” German league. “I chose the team because I’ve heard lots of good things about the German league. I’ve heard they’re a competitive, strong league [. . .] and [it’s] an even bigger challenge.”
She explained that she was told that the DBBL draws in more “quote-on-quote professionals [. . .] with lots of girls from around the world coming to play in Germany.” Langford added that the league she’s going to will provide her with “some pretty good competition, for sure.”
“In Europe, you’re practicing every day, you’re shooting in the morning, practicing at night.”
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, SFU alumna
As for her own play, Raincock-Ekunwe plans to work hard to get to that next level. “This season, I just have to get physically stronger because you go up in the leagues where the women are just so much stronger and so much more skilled,” said Raincock-Ekunwe. “You’re playing against 28-, 29-year olds who’ve just been playing for so long and are just really smart about the game.”
Langford, her former coach, attested to her motivation saying, “When she came [to SFU] she was just a raw athlete and she needed some refinement in her offense. She wasn’t a very good shooter, she wasn’t a very competitive defender, [but] she could just naturally block shots and get rebounds. I think she became really motivated throughout her career to try and improve those skills.”
However, the coach stated that she needs to “hone all of her basketball IQ pieces” to get to that next level, a statement Raincock-Ekunwe agreed with. “I think that will really help me get a future in better leagues,” she said.
Nevertheless, her main focus this season will be helping Friendsfactory Baskets Donau-Ries win: “I would like to achieve a winning season. In Switzerland, we didn’t have a winning season at all so I just want to help this team have a good record and make the playoffs.”
Looking forward to next season and what she can bring to her new team, Raincock-Ekunwe concluded, “I think I can contribute a defensive intensity. I enjoy defense [. . .] so that’s what I think I’ll contribute.”
