Kyei Demonstrating Development On and Off the Court
03/01/24 | Women's Basketball, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon junior Phillipina Kyei is averaging a double-double this season, while also student-teaching for a local kindergarten class.
Back when she was a freshman, there was little thought that Phillipina Kyei would one day be mentioned in the same breath as Sabrina Ionescu.
After all, Ionescu was the best player in Oregon women's basketball history, a box-score stuffer who did it all for the Ducks. Kyei, back in 2021-22, was historic in her own right — at 6-foot-8 she was the tallest player in UO history — but she was a raw prospect who was content to be a backup while learning the game.
My how things have changed. Two years later, Kyei has tied Ionescu on Oregon's single-season record list for double-doubles — Kyei's 10 points and 11 rebounds Thursday against California gave her double-double No. 20 this season, tied for sixth-most in UO history with Ionescu.
Who saw that coming, two years ago? Pretty much nobody.
"I want to say yes," said UO assistant coach Jodie Berry, who works with Oregon's post players. "But I would have to say that both her and I and everyone else would have said no."
In a trying season for the Ducks, who host Stanford on Saturday (2 p.m., Pac-12 Network) to close the regular season, Kyei's development has been a bright spot. After playing less than 10 minutes a game as a freshman, she got a trial by fire as a full-time starter in 2022-23, after an injury sidelined Sedona Prince. Building on that experience, and having improved her conditioning this past offseason, Kyei is averaging 13.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per game — on track to be the first UO women's player to average a double-double since Jillian Alleyne in 2015-16.
"She's just kind of been able to see it all now, take it all in," Berry said. "She's stacking days, stacking weeks, stacking months, stacking years, and it's become a lot easier for her."
Her growth, Kyei said, owes to about a 50-50 split between development mentally and physically. Mentally, she didn't have the confidence to believe she could ever be so productive. Physically, she didn't feel pushed to hone her craft when other players on the roster seemingly deserved more touches — all of which has changed considerably over the past two years.
"I was just going through the motions," Kyei said. "Other people were more of a priority to shoot the ball, and I was just there. That was kind of my thought. But then that changed."
Once Kyei's mindset changed, her natural inclination to be a sponge for information super-charged her development.
"Everything was new that first year-and-a-half," Berry said. "She was like, 'Tell me exactly what you want me to do,' every time."
That desire for knowledge seems fitting for a player who is studying education at the University of Oregon. Kyei wants to become a teacher when she's done playing basketball, and she's taking a big step toward that goal by student-teaching at a local kindergarten on a weekly basis this winter.
Kyei grew up in Ghana surrounded by young members of her extended family. It was there that her love of working with kids first emerged. One of her roommates at Oregon is sophomore Kennedy Basham, and she too learned early of Kyei's affection for children.
"The first week I got here we had a kids' camp, and I just knew, OK, she loves kids," Basham said. "You could just see it."
In a fun twist for Berry and other long-standing members of the program, that's another parallel between Kyei and Ionescu.
"That's where they're so similar," Berry said. "They want to come in, they want to compete — and then any little kid they see they're like, 'Oh, I want to go love on that kid!'"
Berry is acquainted with one of the teachers who is mentoring Kyei as a student teacher this winter. Early reports about Kyei's demeanor in the classroom were not unlike her first year of practices with the Ducks — a big, shy kid content to stand in the back of the room and observe.
But just as her game developed with time and repetition, so too has Kyei's confidence with students. Now she's helping provide instruction and grade work. When she first planned for a major that would allow her to work with kids, Kyei considered social work or teaching; she opted for education, and hasn't doubted that decision since.
"If anything it's like, yes, it does take work, but when you help a kid and you see them get done with their work and see them so excited about it, it gives you a feeling that's just great," Kyei said.
If Kyei is able to secure another double-double Saturday, and pass Ionescu on Oregon's single-season record list, listen for a distinct cheer in Matthew Knight Arena. Thanks to a generous gesture from Anitra Tykeson, kids from Kyei's class at Gilham Elementary will be in attendance for the game, cheering on the teacher who has learned and grown right alongside them this winter.
"It's been really fun to see and watch her grow in that area," Berry said. "Just like everything in life, every time she's gone (to the classroom), she gets more confident."
The student teaching is invaluable career development for Kyei, of course. And it's also a welcome outlet for her away from basketball.
"If we come off a hard weekend or she's had a long day, as soon as she goes in there on a Monday and comes back, we all sit in the living room and talk," Basham said. "She tells us all about the kids, and she's smiling. It just puts her in a good mood."
Since she got to Oregon, Kyei has planned to transition into teaching once she's done playing basketball. Initially, she figured that transition would happen after a year or two of playing post-collegiately.
But now? Now that Kyei's production has exploded? Now that she's opening the eyes of professional scouts and is in the mix to make the Canadian National Team that has qualified for the Summer Olympics?
"It's definitely changed," Kyei said. "I think I'm gonna be playing a little more basketball before becoming a teacher."
After all, Ionescu was the best player in Oregon women's basketball history, a box-score stuffer who did it all for the Ducks. Kyei, back in 2021-22, was historic in her own right — at 6-foot-8 she was the tallest player in UO history — but she was a raw prospect who was content to be a backup while learning the game.
My how things have changed. Two years later, Kyei has tied Ionescu on Oregon's single-season record list for double-doubles — Kyei's 10 points and 11 rebounds Thursday against California gave her double-double No. 20 this season, tied for sixth-most in UO history with Ionescu.
Who saw that coming, two years ago? Pretty much nobody.
"I want to say yes," said UO assistant coach Jodie Berry, who works with Oregon's post players. "But I would have to say that both her and I and everyone else would have said no."
In a trying season for the Ducks, who host Stanford on Saturday (2 p.m., Pac-12 Network) to close the regular season, Kyei's development has been a bright spot. After playing less than 10 minutes a game as a freshman, she got a trial by fire as a full-time starter in 2022-23, after an injury sidelined Sedona Prince. Building on that experience, and having improved her conditioning this past offseason, Kyei is averaging 13.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per game — on track to be the first UO women's player to average a double-double since Jillian Alleyne in 2015-16.
"She's just kind of been able to see it all now, take it all in," Berry said. "She's stacking days, stacking weeks, stacking months, stacking years, and it's become a lot easier for her."
Her growth, Kyei said, owes to about a 50-50 split between development mentally and physically. Mentally, she didn't have the confidence to believe she could ever be so productive. Physically, she didn't feel pushed to hone her craft when other players on the roster seemingly deserved more touches — all of which has changed considerably over the past two years.
"I was just going through the motions," Kyei said. "Other people were more of a priority to shoot the ball, and I was just there. That was kind of my thought. But then that changed."
Once Kyei's mindset changed, her natural inclination to be a sponge for information super-charged her development.
"Everything was new that first year-and-a-half," Berry said. "She was like, 'Tell me exactly what you want me to do,' every time."
That desire for knowledge seems fitting for a player who is studying education at the University of Oregon. Kyei wants to become a teacher when she's done playing basketball, and she's taking a big step toward that goal by student-teaching at a local kindergarten on a weekly basis this winter.
Kyei grew up in Ghana surrounded by young members of her extended family. It was there that her love of working with kids first emerged. One of her roommates at Oregon is sophomore Kennedy Basham, and she too learned early of Kyei's affection for children.
"The first week I got here we had a kids' camp, and I just knew, OK, she loves kids," Basham said. "You could just see it."
In a fun twist for Berry and other long-standing members of the program, that's another parallel between Kyei and Ionescu.
"That's where they're so similar," Berry said. "They want to come in, they want to compete — and then any little kid they see they're like, 'Oh, I want to go love on that kid!'"
Berry is acquainted with one of the teachers who is mentoring Kyei as a student teacher this winter. Early reports about Kyei's demeanor in the classroom were not unlike her first year of practices with the Ducks — a big, shy kid content to stand in the back of the room and observe.
But just as her game developed with time and repetition, so too has Kyei's confidence with students. Now she's helping provide instruction and grade work. When she first planned for a major that would allow her to work with kids, Kyei considered social work or teaching; she opted for education, and hasn't doubted that decision since.
"If anything it's like, yes, it does take work, but when you help a kid and you see them get done with their work and see them so excited about it, it gives you a feeling that's just great," Kyei said.
If Kyei is able to secure another double-double Saturday, and pass Ionescu on Oregon's single-season record list, listen for a distinct cheer in Matthew Knight Arena. Thanks to a generous gesture from Anitra Tykeson, kids from Kyei's class at Gilham Elementary will be in attendance for the game, cheering on the teacher who has learned and grown right alongside them this winter.
"It's been really fun to see and watch her grow in that area," Berry said. "Just like everything in life, every time she's gone (to the classroom), she gets more confident."
The student teaching is invaluable career development for Kyei, of course. And it's also a welcome outlet for her away from basketball.
"If we come off a hard weekend or she's had a long day, as soon as she goes in there on a Monday and comes back, we all sit in the living room and talk," Basham said. "She tells us all about the kids, and she's smiling. It just puts her in a good mood."
Since she got to Oregon, Kyei has planned to transition into teaching once she's done playing basketball. Initially, she figured that transition would happen after a year or two of playing post-collegiately.
But now? Now that Kyei's production has exploded? Now that she's opening the eyes of professional scouts and is in the mix to make the Canadian National Team that has qualified for the Summer Olympics?
"It's definitely changed," Kyei said. "I think I'm gonna be playing a little more basketball before becoming a teacher."
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