Kia Nurse: Instant profile
The 20-year-old launched to stardom at the 2015 Pan Am Games
By Callum Ng, CBC Sports
Kia Nurse is one of Canada's best point guards, look for her to be a prolific scorer when needed.
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Famous Moment
Putting up 33 points in the 2015 Pan Am Games gold-medal game against the world champion United States. Nurse carried the flag for Canada at the closing ceremony.
She said it...
- "We won't be shy to tell you the goal is to come home with a medal."
- "You have to have things you strive for. Our success is going to be based on our cohesion and how well we play. We understand we have to peak at the right time, but we have the potential, and the sky's the limit." - told to Steve Milton at The Hamilton Spectator
What they're saying about her...
"I think the big thing with her is how confident she is in her ability to make plays and go out there and change games." - Nurse's brother Darnell Nurse to Sportsnet
Strengths
Nurse has been surrounded by high-level athletes in her family (see the impressive list below) her entire life. This might explain her rare ability to rise up.
Weaknesses
Nurse, a UConn Husky, was diagnosed with a sports hernia shortly after this NCAA season and underwent surgery. She has missed preparation time with Team Canada, only able to begin playing again in July, although coach Lisa Thomaidis expects her to get back up to speed quickly.
Fun fact
Nurse comes from a sport family, to say the least. Her father Richard played in the CFL, her mother Kathy played basketball at McMaster University, her older brother Darnell plays for the Edmonton Oilers, and her older sister Tamika represented Canada as a junior and played basketball at the University of Oregon.
A popular side note is that her Aunt Raquel played basketball at Syracuse and is married to former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Hometown
Hamilton, Ont.