Few saw her potential. Now she's setting records on the basketball court

When Kiyara Letlow started playing basketball eight years ago, she was far from the best player on the court.

While the Toronto native grew up playing other sports such as volleyball and soccer, basketball didn't come naturally.

"All of a sudden, I wasn't the best or the biggest or the fastest or the strongest anymore … it was hard to deal with," said the 22-year-old forward who plays for Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S. "I contemplated quitting a couple times."

With teammates not passing her the ball, an experience she called demoralizing, she realized the only way she was going to get the ball was to take matters into her own hands — literally — and become a great rebounder.

Her hard work has paid off. Letlow recently broke the Atlantic University Sport record for career rebounds — 1,022 — in women's basketball. Even more impressive, she still has a season and a half of playing eligibility.

"The fact that she broke this record in four seasons is bonkers, it's crazy," said Christopher Rao, CBU's interim head coach.

Up next is the chase to break the unofficial national record of 1,181 held by University of Saskatchewan's Sarah Crooks.

Letlow attributes her rebounding success to a few things, including her six-foot-one height and six-foot-six wingspan, her hustle, but also an innate sense of being able to predict where the ball is heading when a player shoots.

Rao said understanding where the ball is going is something that can be taught to a certain extent, but very few players have a natural gift for it. As well, rebounding is a gritty job.

"Not everyone has the intention to go rebound all the time because it is hard, it's difficult," he said. "You get knocked around a little bit."

Besides leading the country in average rebounds per game at 15.1, she's also the top scorer, averaging 21.7 points per game, as of Saturday morning.

When Letlow was wrapping up her secondary studies, she said she visited about six Canadian universities to consider where to play basketball. Most saw her as a role player.

The exception was Cape Breton University. Letlow said the coach, Fabian McKenzie — who is off on medical leave this season — told her she could be a key player, but he also highlighted areas where she needed improvement, such as her defence and shooting.

"That was one of the big things I really appreciated," said Letlow, who led the country in rebounding as a rookie, while finishing second in scoring.

Letlow was also drawn to CBU because of the community's passion for basketball.

"It's like everybody lives for a Friday night Cape Breton University men's and women's basketball game," she said. "That's, like, the highlight of their week for some people."

Career goals

Letlow is pursuing an honours bachelor of psychology, with an aim of one day getting into sports psychology.

After university, she hopes to play professionally in Europe.

Letlow also wants to suit up for the women's national team. She previously played on the national under-23 women's three-on-three squad.

At a training camp for the under-23 women's five-on-five squad two summers ago — a team she didn't make — Letlow quickly realized she was undersized against the competition and wasn't the best scorer or rebounder.

That experience coupled with her early struggles when she was learning the game have shaped her as a leader.

"It just really reminded me that … everybody has a role on the team and whether they're scoring 20 points a game, playing 40 minutes a game or not, you have to respect the role they have because everyone can bring something," said Letlow.

She said it's important to focus on what the players can control.

"They can control their attitude, their effort, how much they're cheering, how much they're motivating others, so that's kind of the thing that I always try to remind people of," said Letlow.