Keltos heading Down Under chasing hoop dreams
The next step in Sam Keltos’ basketball journey will take her to Australia.
The co-winner of the 2020 St. Catharines Athlete of the Year award has signed a contract to play pro hoops with the Western Port Steelers in Melbourne, Australia.
“This is the second contract I have been discussing with my agent. The first one is for this coming September to potentially go play in England because I am planning to go play there and get my masters of education at the same time,” the 23-year-old St. Catharines native said. “My agent suggested that I play in the summer in Australia to get my feet wet in a pro league. It’s a way to start my career off in a cool place.
“Honestly, this whole playing pro thing I am using as a good excuse to travel and do something I love which is play basketball.”
The present member of the Brock women’s basketball team can’t wait for the adventure to begin.
“I am looking forward to the experience and the different cultures,” she said. “I was talking to the coach and he is very excited that I am coming. He told me they are going to treat me like one of theirs and I am going to be part of their family. I can’t wait to play basketball in a different country and see what it is like.”
Keltos expects there to be an adjustment period.
“I am not sure how difficult it will be but I will be coming from my Brock team where I am one of the oldest players to going to a team where I will be the second youngest,” she said. “There are moms on the team, I think there’s a nurse and they all have full-time jobs and play on this team. I am going there and this is going to be my full-time job.”
The former Sir Winston Churchill and Niagara JUEL standout, who spent three seasons with the NCAA Division 1 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers before joining the Badgers for the 2019-20 season, is a much different player now compared to when she first arrived at Brock.
“I am less timid as a player, I am more confident in myself as an individual basketball player and I have become more confident with the ball knowing what I can do personally for the team and how I can help the team as well,” the 6-foot-3 forward said. “Learning to play in a system is very difficult if you don’t understand what the coach’s goal is. Throughout the years with (Brock head coach Mike) Rao, I have been able to do whatever I want. You learn the system and then you can work within it with the team and it makes it a whole lot easier.”
After helping Brock win its first Ontario University Athletics title and a silver medal at the USPORTS championships at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, Keltos graduated with a biology degree. She decided to return for one more year to complete her eligibility but her final year was delayed to the 2021-22 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is averaging 13.8 points and eight rebounds a game this season for the unbeaten and third-ranked Badgers but will head to Australia before the playoffs begin. She originally signed with Western Port before the OUA and USPORTS playdowns were pushed back because of the latest round of COVID restrictions. Her first game in Australia is scheduled for March 19, the OUA final is on March 26 and the USPORTS championships are slated for March 31 to April 3.
She is disappointed to leave her team but is honouring the commitment she made to Western Port.
“For my team’s sake, when I am gone, I hope they will get the chance to go as far as they can because it could potentially be cancelled again.”
Rao is sad to see Keltos go but is OK with her leaving.
“She is ready for the next level and she has to do what is best for her at this point,” he said.
There are also no assurances Brock will one of the last teams standing.
“I’m very optimistic, they (championships) are going to happen but you can never guarantee that we are going to make it that far either,” Rao said. “Anything can happen along the way. We have been off for two months and I really can’t gauge the barometer on this team right now anyways because we have been in masks up until today (Tuesday) and we’ve had no contact.
“We have to play in four days and I don’t know what that is going to bring.”
Rao saw Keltos make great strides as a player during her time at Brock. Brock focused initially on her post play and once she had that figured out, they brought her back outside.
“She really worked on her shooting — we made a couple of adjustments on that — and then her decision making got real good,” he said. “When she started sharing the ball, she understood she would get it back. She learned to cultivate her game within what we were doing and she found herself wide open on the perimeter, wide open inside and wide open on the baseline.”
Keltos’ excellence at sharing the ball will come in handy Down Under.
“That is what the overseas game is. Once you can combine all your skills together and work with other players, that is what they value,” Rao said. “And that is what she has.”
