Sometimes you see a perfect match that just needs a little help coming together.
That’s how we feel about former Virginia player Felicia Aiyeotan and VCU’s Center for Sport Leadership.
Some quick context. The 6-9 Nigerian center ranked third in Cavaliers history in blocked shots despite playing in only 73 games — a little more than two seasons. A stunning diagnosis, Marfan syndrome, brought the premature end to her career. She didn’t play as a senior. While being evaluated for a knee injury, Aiyeotan learned she had the genetic disorder that alters the chemical makeup of connective tissue. The syndrome affects the bones, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels and heart. While an athlete can compete with Marfan syndrome — swimmer Michael Phelps suffers from it — contact sports are not recommended.
It was a startling “discovery” in the words of Aiyeotan, who envisioned herself preparing for her first WNBA season this summer alongside her Cavs teammate Jocelyn Willoughby.
She feels 100%. “The fact is I can move. I can jump. Nothing seems wrong with me,” she said. “That made it extremely hard to digest.”
Last year Aiyeotan immersed herself in academics and graduated from Virginia with a bachelor’s in sociology and a minor in global culture and commerce. She recalibrated her goals to focus on opening a nonprofit in her native country, one that would help girls with basketball potential achieve at the highest level. Doing so would be giving back. An organization called Hope 4 Girls not only encouraged Aiyeotan to play basketball as a 12-year-old, it provided a road map that led to the University of Virginia offering her a scholarship.
Graduate school was a logical next step, and Aiyeotan only applied to one program: VCU’s Center for Sport Leadership. The 12-month internationally acclaimed master’s program offers graduates across multiple industry specialties a comprehensive set of tools to set them up for successful sports careers. Assignments are real-world; professors are innovative and hands-on with their students.
Aiyeotan applied, interviewed and earned acceptance into the Class of 2021.
But the price tag is daunting. Tuition is nearly $21K and living expenses mean she will need 28K to attend. Aiyeotan has kept afloat financially by interning remotely at the academic center at John Paul Jones Arena, a position that ends in August. On Friday, she set up a GoFundMe page seeking donations to help with her tuition. Former coach Joanne Boyle offered a letter of support on the page, noting: “Felicia is a humble, grateful, generous human being, and going public with this is not easy for her… but I know in my heart of hearts Felicia is determined not to let the difficulties in her past dictate her future. She will without a doubt take full advantage of this opportunity and give back in ways we cannot imagine!”
“I was really excited to be accepted into the program and I was hoping to get a scholarship through the women’s basketball program to be a graduate assistant,” Aiyeotan said. “But I was told they don’t have funding for the school year due to the pandemic.”
While the Center for Sport Leadership can offer some assistance, it’s not enough to make it affordable for Aiyeotan to attend this fall.
She’s always had graduate school in mind; she just thought it would be after a long playing career.
Playing professionally “was a goal I had for eight years,” she said. “People kept telling me about my potential. The more I improved as a player, the more realistic it got, especially after my second year at UVA. The third year came around, and it was a downward spiral.”
Aiyeotan is determined to help more girls like her. If not for Hope 4 Girls, she might have never even played basketball. She was an introvert, bullied for her height until she found a comfort level at a Hope 4 Girls camp.
“It’s all about the people back home and how can I give back,” she said. “There’s so much talent there, and there’s so much grit. There’s people willing to try and creative minds.”
A Master of Sport Leadership from VCU could be the launchpad to get things rolling.
“GoFundMe is one of the last things I want to do,” Aiyeotan said. “But I love this program.”
To donate (and we did), visit this link.