By David Herder
NUsports.com contributor

Outnumbered in the paint, multiple opponents jostle with her for the rebound. While their bodies remain stuck to the floor, Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah floats upwards, unfurling her arms to snare the ball. If the ball is within her reach, she makes it hers. Even if it is not, and she has no business getting to the rebound, the Northwestern junior has a chance to go get it anyway.

In the home opener against Oakland, Kunaiyi-Akpanah out-rebounded the entire opposing team while she was on the court, often fighting over four opponents by herself to get the rebound. Kunaiyi-Akpanah averaged over 16 rebounds per 40 minutes in her first two collegiate seasons, establishing herself as one of the best rebounders in the Big Ten.

Before the 2017-18 season began, Kunaiyi-Akpanah decided that one of her goals for the year was to get 20 rebounds in a single game – the second most in Northwestern women's basketball history. That, and any other lofty goal that Kunaiyi-Akpanah sets, seems to be in her reach. Every opportunity for Kunaiyi-Akpanah is like a rebound: she may not know where it is coming from, but when she sees it, she goes and gets it.

***

"People have seen me and have seen something in me."

Rebounds come easy when you are the tallest one at your school. Kunaiyi-Akpanah grew quickly in Abuja, Nigeria, and, in middle school, began to rise above her classmates. Being six-foot-two somewhat ostracized Kunaiyi-Akpanah in the classrooms and hallways, as her peers did not know how to handle someone so big. They thought she was weird.

Outside on the basketball courts, freed from the cramped confines of school, height is good. Kunaiyi-Akpanah was not only tall, but immensely athletic. She excelled in sports. Despite starting basketball at an older age, she quickly established herself; she was naturally good at it. "Basketball kind of just came to me," said Kunaiyi-Akpanah. "I never really sought it out." Kunaiyi-Akpanah found acceptance on the court. Her passion for the game began to blossom.

Nigeria has two seasons, according to Kunaiyi-Akpanah: rainy and dry. In the rainy season, it pours every day. In the dry season, it is bone dry, with the wind picking up and whipping dirt, giving people frequent sore throats. It was the dry season when Kunaiyi-Akpanah was playing on that court and collecting rebounds. Even with the heat and dry air, she was explosive and active in the game. While the air was dry, her luck was not. One admirer of her developing skill was Mobolaji Akiode, who had played basketball for Nigeria in the 2004 Olympics. Akiode saw Kunaiyi-Akpanah as someone like herself, someone who had immense basketball potential.

Akiode approached Kunaiyi-Akpanah with an idea. After her playing career ended, Akiode founded the Hope 4 Girls Africa (H4G) program. H4G offers camps and workshops to help 12-to 18-year-old women hone their academic and athletic abilities. Akiode talked to Kunaiyi-Akpanah and heard her story, before bringing up how Kunaiyi-Akpanah was tall and athletic. "I had zero skill at that time," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. "I did not know what I was doing. But Mobolaji saw something in me." H4G also helps talented athletes look for opportunities to continue their athletics and academics in the United States. Akiode decided to get Kunaiyi-Akpanah to America.

***

"Coming to the U.S. is a huge deal for anybody."

In the year after meeting Akiode, Kunaiyi-Akpanah was nervous. An Olympian had seen her and began to search for an American school for her to attend. As a 14-year-old, Kunaiyi-Akpanah could have a world of potential ahead of her, she just needed to get confirmation that H4G would find a spot for her in the U.S. "Having the prospect that you might be coming to study in the States, that was the word, 'might,'" said Kunaiyi-Akpanah. "I was not sure if I should get my hopes up and be like 'Oh yeah! I am coming to the States!' And then later it would be, 'Oh sorry about that, we happen to have a situation.'"

Kunaiyi-Akpanah did not have to wait long. Within a year, she was living in Atlanta, Georgia and attending the Rabun Gap Nacoochee School. Having attended a boarding school in Nigeria, Kunaiyi-Akpanah was not too worried about living away from her home, but the sheer distance and a new culture was still daunting.

Kunaiyi-Akpanah arrived in October 2012, just a month after the start of the academic year. She could not slip into her sophomore year. In November, the Rabun Gap sophomores were going on a hiking trip. Kunaiyi-Akpanah had never been in freezing weather, and winter had started in earnest – it was the first time Kunaiyi-Akpanah had seen snow. The hike was up a local mountain, and it was cold at the bottom when they started climbing; as they moved upwards, it just kept getting colder. Soon, it began to snow heavily. "I was thinking, I am ready to go back. There is no way they can do this to me," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. "It was not fun, but it was a memory."

A warm reception from her classmates helped Kunaiyi-Akpanah thaw after the hike. Rabun Gap had a diverse student population, including many international students. Thousands of miles away from her home and family, she was in the dorms with others in similar situations. Kunaiyi-Akpanah had been afraid of people not wanting to mingle with the new girl, but she quickly made friends.

With the new school's training regimen, she was seeing improvements on the court. "I knew how to jump and how to run," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. "It was getting to know the fundamentals and footwork, that is what I developed." Rabun Gap did not have much height on its girls' basketball team, and Kunaiyi-Akpanah was the only player taller than six feet her first year. Her coach was excited to work with someone so tall, quickly beginning to practice post moves and more advanced dribbling. Her sophomore year, a six-foot-four girl joined the team, giving her someone to practice in the post with. While she made her trans-Atlantic journey for basketball, Kunaiyi-Akpanah was not content to limit her athletic success just one sport; she also played volleyball and tennis and excelled at running track. "I won a lot of medals, but that was expected. I was the biggest girl," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said.

In the summers, Kunaiyi-Akpanah would stay with her aunt in Florida and play AAU basketball. There was plenty of exposure to college programs with the AAU team, as scouts began to see the same talent that Akiode had seen. Every scout and coach had the same evaluation: that Kunaiyi-Akpanah had raw talent and sky-high potential. "I did not know what it meant. They keep saying this about me, so is it good or bad?" Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. "I was just trying to figure out why they want me."

"Having someone see you and believe in you was eye-opening," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. "This means that I am a person who can make a difference or be an inspiration to those who are back at home, and who want to be in this position. "

***

"If you are obsessed with improving yourself, there isn't a limit to how good you can get."

With her back to the basket, she posted up in the middle of Ohio State's 2-3 zone. As the pass came into the lane, she corralled it with her left hand, spinning with the motion of the ball into the center of the lane for an easy layup. It was part of a career day for Kunaiyi-Akpanah, as she was getting just her second collegiate start against No. 5 Ohio State in January 2016. Often operating as the Wildcats' lone post player, Kunaiyi-Akpanah had 14 points on six-of-eight shooting, adding 14 rebounds as a part of her first career double-double. She ended as the game's leading rebounder, as Northwestern pulled off the upset win.

Kunaiyi-Akpanah had no problems transitioning to collegiate life. On the court, the Ohio State game jump-started her season, as she became a major part of the Wildcat rotation and averaged 18 rebounds per 40 minutes as Northwestern made a run to the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals. Off the court, life at college was just like going to a boarding school in a different location. "In high school, we lived in dorms, had roommates, went to the cafeteria. I came here, and I lived in the dorms, I had a roommate, and I went to the cafeteria," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said.

Having chosen Northwestern because of both its academic and athletic prestige, Kunaiyi-Akpanah continued to nurture and grow her basketball abilities. Always a force on the boards, she has worked to expand her post game, also improving her ball handling skills and defense. She has improved her scoring, shooting 56 percent from the floor while taking twice as many shots this season as she had in the past two years combined. While improving those parts of her game, Kunaiyi-Akpanah has become elite in her strengths. She has dominated on defense, placing second in the Big Ten in rebounding, seventh in steals, and 12th in blocks. She finished the year with the eighth most double-doubles in the country at 18, and on February 11, she was just two steals away from recording the third triple-double in program history.

In the 2017-18 season, Kunaiyi-Akpanah established herself as one of the best players in the Big Ten.

Her biggest change has been in her demeanor. The Wildcats graduated their top four scorers after the end of the 2016-17 season, leaving a leadership void that Kunaiyi-Akpanah stepped into. In practices, she gets her teammates engaged by coming into the gym, jumping, and doing pull ups on the rims. "She has got this funny personality that she makes everybody laugh. She will tell jokes in front of the team, that make no sense, but they make everybody laugh, they are funny," said Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown. "She plays so hard it inspires her teammates. We have seen that from day one. Even in shoot-arounds or on game-day walkthroughs, Pallas is going 90 miles per hour."

As she has become more vocal with teammates, she continues to be vocal with her parents. Living across an ocean from her family is difficult, but modern technology helps to bridge the gap. Kunaiyi-Akpanah uses WhatsApp to keep in touch with her parents and three siblings, and they use social media and YouTube to track her career. "My dad essentially stalks me on social media," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. "We talk after every game, and he asks me about how I played, how many points and rebounds I had, even though he is staring at the stat sheet while asking me." Kunaiyi-Akpanah has been able to go home to Nigeria the last two summers after not having gone at all during high school.

Seeing family after so long was fun, and Kunaiyi-Akpanah was fully able to enjoy family and home cooking. Her athletic duties never rested though, as she worked out outdoors during Nigeria's dry season. When she practiced the basketball skills she would be using in Evanston, she had to hope that one day the people she was with would get to see them in action. "I would love to have my family come watch me play. I do not think they have ever seen me play before. But I do not see it happening in the near future," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said.

One way that her family would get to see her play is if her career does not end with graduation. "I do not know if I am WNBA material right now, but basketball is a game of evolving," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. She looked the part of a WNBA prospect this season, averaging 11.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. In a game against Oakland on November 16, Kunaiyi-Akpanah achieved her goal of 20 rebounds in a game, tallying 21 to go with 27 points, the third 20-20 game in Northwestern history.

"I did not go into the game saying I want to get 20 rebounds. I just said I will play hard and be aggressive, play my game and do what I am good at, do not try to do what you are not good at," Kunaiyi-Akpanah said. "I guess that kind of worked out well."

Now her goal is to get 22 rebounds, to continue to beat her own record. But she is not going to force it. She is going to continue to get in the best positions possible and reach for her opportunities.

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