Yvonne Ejim is making the Olympics a family affair

When you find out you’re going to the Olympics, of course you immediately want to text everyone and anyone. 

“They say…that you’re not allowed to tell anybody,” said Yvonne Ejim, who learned she had made the Canadian Olympic basketball team on July 2nd. “But like, this is my family. Sorry!”

So Ejim, 22 years old, star forward for Gonzaga University, did what she had to do. After all, her older brother Melvin was competing for a spot on the Olympic men’s team. 

The two siblings didn’t want to jinx their individual chances at making their respective Olympic teams, so they did not talk about the subject of the Olympics. But when Yvonne made the Olympics, she sent Melvin an emoji of the French flag and the (Sshh) emoji. Later, when Melvin made the team, her sent her the same thing and Yvonne said she was jumping around and texting crazy messages. 

“I was trying to just be quiet,” said Yvonne. “But texting with a hint, hint, nudge, nudge. And then he sent me the same one back the day they were all told, before the list came out. And when he told me I literally threw my phone across the room.”

Yvonne says she followed in her older brother’s footsteps.

“It was definitely fun just because we had a whole squad whenever you wanted to play…It was a sport that my brothers were playing, and my parents played a little bit of basketball too. I wanted to pursue basketball because I saw a lot of passion and then that trickled down to me.”

Still, basketball was not Yvonne’s first passion. She grew up wanting to be “the next Serena Williams.”

She still remembers her first, tentative, outings on the basketball court. “I was definitely really little, so I didn’t even know how to dribble. I was probably one of those kids who bounced it, picked it up with two hands and bounced it again. That was really all the skill I had.”

A lot has changed since then. Over the years, Ejim has crafted and defined her game, morphing into one of the best players in college basketball during her four years at Gonzaga, winning West Coast Conference Player of the Year and defensive player of the year last season. She barely played as a rookie.

But she’s been playing for her country for much longer. She credits Canada Basketball for helping develop her game.

Ejim made her first Team Canada camp at the age of 13, when Melvin was already representing Canada at the senior level. Later, Ejim competed at the FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup. In 2017, Ejim played on the cadet national team at the FIBA U17 Women’s World Cup, and before that she won silver with Canada at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship. 

“I always felt that I was learning a lot more of the game with Canada basketball,” said Yvonne.  “And I was able to apply it when I came back throughout high school and college. I really believe that’s what got me here.”

Still the dream of an Olympics seemed remote until Tamara Tatum, who coached her for Canada at the youth level and is now a teammate with Team Canada, sowed the seed.

“She would always joke and be: ‘Oh, Yvonne, I see that you are kind of a mini me in basketball. I can see you making the Olympics one day.’”

“And I was like, girl, don’t get too ahead of yourself now,” Ejim said.

She thought of that back in February when she was invited to the Olympic qualifiers. “I was thinking in my head back to that moment when Tamara told me that I would go to the Olympics. I was like ‘this girl might be psychic.’ And then when I made it,  we were texting each other, and Tamara said I told you and I was like, ‘girl, I wouldn’t have believed you but here we are.’” 

Now Ejim is playing with and against her idols growing up, such as Kia Nurse and Natali Achonwa when she met both of them in February for the Olympic Qualifiers.

“When I saw her (Nurse), and I was like ‘she’s right there.’ A little bit of a fangirl moment,” said Ejim. “But she’s super goofy and we’re friends now…So, it’s a bit of fangirling…I was like ‘I’m really up here with some of these legends like I got Natalie Achonwa next to me. What in the world?’”

Syla Swords had similar experiences of her own. (Canada’s senior roster is young, and the mix of generations makes for plenty of joy when the college youngsters meet the WNBA vets.) And Ejim says she will be nothing but enthusiasm and shock when she walks onto the court at the Olympics.

“What in the world is going on?” said Ejim. “I don’t even know, I couldn’t tell you how I would feel in that moment because I probably wouldn’t be able to describe it. It would just be outwardly, everything in the world fell into place. I’m probably going to lose my head. Yeah, I’m probably going to lose my head.”

The ultimate goal for Yvonne is the hopes that she and her brother can respectively bring back two medals to their family. He’s been doing it a long time, one of the longest-serving veterans on the men’s side. But of course he hasn’t been to an Olympic games. And she is a newcomer to this level, having only played in two major international tournaments on the senior team. But both serve vital roles on some of the most talented teams Canada has ever put together. Both can medal.

“My brain can’t comprehend that. I’m tingling just thinking about it, it’s just crazy,” said Ejim. “I don’t like jinxing things. I like to let things just work out for themselves. We’ll get there when we get there.”

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