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A boy with a ball walked past Omowumi Rafiu's home in Nigeria, and instantly her eyes lit up. She wanted to know where he was going and what he was doing.
Playing basketball, he told her.
"Tomorrow, when you're going," she replied, "call me."
Rafiu (RAH-fee-oo) quickly fell in love with the game. Pretty soon, she was making the mile-long walk to the Police College of Kaduna court day after day. It led her to her future, to today, when the senior is taking the prestigious Philadelphia Catholic League by storm as a Neumann-Goretti Saint and soon-to-be Georgetown Hoya.
Her earliest memories of Kaduna are clouded by tear gas, a byproduct of the religious conflict that has ravaged Nigeria for decades. She remembers the blinding feeling of walking through a riot, tears pouring from her 7-year-old eyes as her mother attempted to soothe the pain.
"Don't worry, it'll be all right," Omowumi (Oh-MO-woo-mee) remembers her mother telling her outside their central market shop.
Nine years later, the now-6-foot-2 teen caught the eye of coaches Mike Flynn and Allie Bassetti of the Philadelphia Belles, a Nike travel team program. After watching Rafiu play in Lagos, birthplace of NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon, the two recruited her to join the Belles for the summer of 2010 and set up her American schooling.
Rafiu, a practicing Muslim, soon left a country where Muslims and Catholics are at war to attend a Catholic school in Philadelphia.
Neumann-Goretti was a "no-brainer" choice in Flynn's mind because the school appreciated the opportunity it could offer Rafiu.
"Neumann-Goretti understands the impact of basketball on the school, on the community, and on the student body," Flynn said.
On the court, Rafiu has blossomed into a rebounding and shot-blocking force for the 18-4 Saints, averaging 15 boards and four blocks per game, up from 11 and three last season.
The structured, intense environment of American basketball has pushed her to do things even she didn't realize she could do, Rafiu said. The center has worked tirelessly on her perimeter game in preparation for playing small forward at Georgetown.
And her skills have earned her celebrity status among the student body. "Ki-ke" (KEE-kay), they call her, a nickname meaning "cherish a child."
"Everyone at school knows who she is," assistant coach Brian Morris said. "She's got a dynamite personality, and she's just fun to be around."
When school is over and Rafiu returns to her temporary home, Flynn's childhood house near Neumann-Goretti, she prays. Adjusting her prayer schedule was much easier than adjusting to South Philly food - "fries, fries, fries" she described her diet last year - and to living alone.
"There are some days you need someone to talk to, like someone real close, but you don't have that person," Rafiu said. "But the good thing is anytime I come to school the next day, I feel like I'm in a family."
The support system watching over Rafiu includes Bassetti, now an assistant at Neumann-Goretti, and athletic director Pat DiPilla. Morris said both treat Rafiu like a daughter, and DiPilla even arranged for her to go to the junior prom last year.
But the "happy-go-lucky" personality that students and teachers adore turns serious during games, according to head coach Steve Skedzielewski.
"On the court, she's all business," he said.
In the Saints' two biggest wins this season, over North Penn on Dec. 29 and Archbishop Wood on Feb. 4, Rafiu pulled down a combined 40 rebounds. She has led a team turnaround from eighth place in the league last year to third this year.
The turnaround in her life has been even more significant.
"I feel this is what I want to do. I really want to play the game," Rafiu said. "I love the game, and I felt this was the best place for me to go."
Contact staff writer Brian Kotloff at bkotloff@phillynews.com.
