KAVITHA AKULA TO JOIN THE SENIOR INDIAN WOMEN CAMP THE FIRST INDIAN WOMEN TO PLAY NCAA D1 COLLEGE LEAGUE FOUR FROM KERALA IN THE SHORTLISTED INDIAN SENIOR
05/06/2017
Kavita Akula’s unconventional path to play basketball in the US bore fruit on May 28, 2017, as she became the first Indian-born female basketball player to get a full scholarship to a Division 1 (D1) college Grand Canyon University in the US. D1 is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the US. The 21-year-old will begin her college basketball journey this September.
Before that She Will be joining the Indian Women Camp Starting at Bangalore on 5th June at Kantheerava Stadium in preparation for the 39th William Johns Cup to be held at Taiwan from 7th to 14th July later for the preparation of FIBA women Asia Cup to be held at Bangalore from 23rd July to 29th July 2017.
In the shortlisted Sixteen member Indian camp from Kerala we have Jeena PS, P G Anjana, Grima Merlin Varghese (all from KSEB) and Poojamol KS from Kottayam along with the tallest from the camp 6ft 9 inches Poonam Chaturvedi, Barkha Sonkar from Uttar Pradesh who is also playing in USA and Anmolpreet Kaur from Punjab who is now in Japan (who also will Join shortly) and the senior most player Anita Paul Durai from Tamil Nadu.
Akula had two offers on her plate – one from Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona and another from Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania but she decided to sign with Grand Canyon because of their new head coach, Nicole Powell, who is a former WNBA All-Star.
According to ESPN Kavita Akula’s incredible basketball journey
From Bhilai to Kansas via Bradenton, 21-year-old Kavita looks to build a career out of grit and guts.
“Coach Powell has great energy and she is looking for somebody who can lead the team, and I thought I will fit in well,” Akula said. “Coach said my experience playing junior college will help the team.”
Akula will be a point/shooting guard for the Grand Canyon team starting this fall and will be a junior (third year of college, since she played two years of junior college). She will major in business management and marketing.
Akula first moved to the US at age 14 to train at the IMG Academy in Florida, and then decided to stay back in the US and play basketball for Garden City Junior College in Kansas. It was an unconventional move, but Akula knew it was the right step toward her ultimate goal to play D1 college ball.
