Gonzaga women’s basketball expected to sign Canadian forward Yvonne Ejim

Gonzaga’s Canadian connection is still going strong.

Yvonne Ejim, a 6-foot-2 power forward from Calgary, Alberta, with international experience, is expected to sign with the Zags.

GU won’t make an official announcement until this fall, but last week, coach Lisa Fortier retweeted a post from Kia Nurse Elite, an affiliate of Nike Elite Youth Basketball.

“Congrats, Yvonne, on your commitment to Gonzaga! Excited to watch you compete the next four years!” said the tweet posted on June 13.

Ejim, who will be a high school senior this fall, would enroll at Gonzaga in the fall of 2020.

The Zags already have one Canadian, sophomore guard Louise Forsyth, on their roster. Recent Canadians to play for the Zags include 2018 graduate Emma Wolfram and Alberta native Janelle Bekkering (who as a senior played on GU’s Elite Eight team in 2010-11).

The 17-year-old Ejim will compete next month in the U19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand.

Last year, she averaged six points and six rebounds in an international tournament in Latvia. Earlier in the year at the U17 World Cup in Belarus, she averaged seven points, seven boards and nearly two assists over seven games.

Ejim also joined high school players from around the world at the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global Camp during this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A native of Calgary, Ejim has played multiple years for various Alberta provincial teams, including last summer, when she was the leading rebounder and named a tournament all-star at the Canada Basketball 17U Championships. She has represented Canada at the 2018 FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup and 2017 FIBA U16 Women’s Americas Championship.

Ejim’s older brother Melvin played at Iowa State, which also recruited her.