Tonight Great Britain will tip off against arguably one of the best teams USA has ever assembled for the Olympics. What does Great Britain have to do with Canadians you ask?

Kyle Johnson will be the only Canuck on the floor tonight, and though it is only an exhibition game, with the attention and anticipation to watch team USA- this game could change Johnson’s career.

Kyle Johnson was born in Canada, but both his parents are of British descent. Kyle attended West Hill Collegiate where he played under head coach Wayne Dawkins and began training seriously as a prospective athlete.

Unlike present times, where many players are participating on competing teams in the GTA and developing their games from different avenues, Kyle chose to train with PHASE 1.  During his final year of high school, Kyle participated in the PHASE 1 All Canada Prospect Camp at the end of the summer. At this point Kyle had no Division 1 scholarship offers, but found the camp as a huge and final opportunity to show coaches that he had what it takes to play at the next level.

According to long time mentor and trainer Wayne Dawkins, “Kyle has always been a very special player- with a tremendous work ethic. But he’s also had to work extra hard to get people to appreciate his talent.”

By the end of Day 2 at the Prospect Camp, Kyle had received his one and only scholarship offer from Long Island University. It was the opportunity he had worked and prayed for- and Kyle ran with it. While at school Kyle worked for his playing time, which increased- as did his points per game, after every season. When Kyle first arrived at LIU, the team finished their season with a 9-21 record. By the time he was a his senior year (2011), Kyle led his Long Island team to a conference championship and a bid into the NCAA “March Madness” tournament to play in front of millions in a televised game against the top-ranked University of North Carolina. Not bad for a kid that barely got recruited, eh?

With the noise Kyle made in the NCAA, it was no surprised that he was issued a formal invite to try out for the Great Britain “future” team (the equivalent on our junior men’s national team) in the summer of his graduation. Soon after, he was called up to try out and play with the Senior Men’s Great Britain team and was deemed an official representative of the squad. This year Kyle played professionally in Greece for APOEL. He also performed extremely well at tryouts, and entered his 2^nd year with Great Britain, only this time to play in the Olympics.

Along with Kyle, Nana Papa Yaw Dwene Mensah-Bonsu aka “Pops” is the second member on the Great Britain team that has ties with not only PHASE 1, but with Canada. When Pops was in high school, he met and was coached by Wayne Dawkins in high school camps and all-star games. Since then he has maintained a close relationship with Dawkins and is often spotted making guest appearances at PHASE 1 events, coaching teams, and putting down spectacular dunks at the Rumble in the TDOT-All Canada Classic. During his tenure with the Raptors and whenever he is in town, Pops stops in the gym to work on his game, and shares development strategies with Coach Dawkins.

 I’m very excited about the opportunity that I’ve been given to play in the Olympics. I hope my career path can be an inspiration to the young kids to see that if they continue to work hard, doors will be open for them.” – Kyle Johnson

 Both “Pops” and Kyle are expected to play big minutes in tomorrow’s game against USA- a game that will be nationally televised around the world. So tomorrow, when you and the rest of the world watch Team USA, consider saving a cheer or 2 for the lone Canuck on the floor who wears Great Britain on his chest, but is a testimonial to great Canadian development!

For more information about Kyle including a photo gallery follow this link http://bit.ly/MlXONQ

Lee Anna Osei @GetRecruitedCan