Darkwa takes long road to WSU

Ghana native spent 7 years in U.S. Navy before deciding on college.

Wright State freshman Paul Darkwa will soon have his picture alongside his teammates in the Setzer Pavilion. A native of Ghana, Darkwa spent time in the U.S. Navy before joining the WSU squad.

Staff photo by Jan Underwood Wright State freshman Paul Darkwa will soon have his picture alongside his teammates in the Setzer Pavilion. A native of Ghana, Darkwa spent time in the U.S. Navy before joining the WSU squad.

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 2:16 AM Tuesday, October 27, 2009

FAIRBORN — His parents had always been on the move to help find him and his siblings a better life.

It took Paul Darkwa a few more years to understand he also wanted that better life, and one way to achieve it was to go to college.

He also liked to play basketball, and that is the short version of how Darkwa ended up at Wright State University, where he will be a 27-year-old, 6-foot-7 freshman this season after spending seven years in the Navy.

His story starts much earlier than that, and a lot farther away.

Darkwa grew up in Ghana, on Africa’s west coast, moving to New Jersey when he was 9. By the time he was of high-school age, Darkwa’s parents had moved the family to California.

“We (two brothers, two sisters) had no say in it,” Darkwa said. “When you hear about America, you hear about all these opportunities and snow. At that age, oh, America, snow. Let’s do it. It was all just like a shock to us as far as ... America had like a lot going on. We were just like, simple. We had each other.”

A year after graduating from high school as a skinny 6-foot-1 guard, Darkwa had already moved back to New Jersey to live with a family friend when he decided to join the Navy.

Education was stressed to him there as well, and one day he was playing basketball with Francis Ebong, who had graduated from the Naval Academy. He told Ebong he wanted to go to college, and Ebong said he knew just the right place.

Ebong’s brother, Victor, was (and is) an assistant coach at WSU. On Thursday, Oct. 29, Darkwa will be introduced to WSU fans for the first time at the Halloween Hoops event at the Nutter Center.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Paul Darkwa

Class: Freshman

Age: 27

Height: 6-7

Weight: 235

From: Ghana, Africa

High School: Ramona (Calif.)

Notable: Joined the Navy out of high school and played for the All-Navy and All-Armed Services teams. Played in the recent World Military Games in Lithuania.

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Under the hoop he is a beast.........not wild about his mid range to deep game but is a backboard breaker and will prolly shatter the glass at least 4 times this year..........im calling it now, 3 and a half months from now this team will be dancing in the NCAA tourny

The Wright Voice
10:37 PM, 10/27/2009

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Is he any good?

tom
1:11 PM, 10/27/2009

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Welcome, Paul, to the Wright State Raiders! Many people at the age of 27 still don't know what they want to do with their lives. Some people don't discover it until much later. Thank you as well for serving our Country - the greatest in the World! I'm glad the opportunity arose for you to come to WSU and look forward to seeing a young man with dedication play with such a wonderful team. I hope you still enjoy the snow!

Fan
11:19 AM, 10/27/2009

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