Interview: For Louisville’s Yevheniia Putra, basketball is secondary to the on-going conflict in her home country
Swish Appeal recently spoke to Louisville sophomore center Yevheniia Putra, who is from Ukraine.
Yevheniia Putra, a 22-year-old 6-foot-3 center from Kyiv, Ukraine, recently discussed the ongoing conflict in her home country during an interview with Swish Appeal. The conversation took an unexpected turn from basketball, as Putra shared her experiences of traveling to the United States for her sophomore season at Louisville and witnessing the changes in Ukraine.
Traveling from the US to Ukraine proved to be a lengthy and challenging endeavor. Putra recounted a 54-hour journey she took to get to the Red Bull Half Court tournament in Spain, which involved multiple flights and a bus ride to Poland. Upon returning to the US, she now lives in Miami and faces a similar lengthy route to reach Ukraine, with a bus journey from Poland to Kyiv lasting 16-18 hours and border control posing difficulties.
Putra's path to college basketball at Louisville was also highlighted. Through her agent, she connected with the program after her previous coach's contact, which was facilitated by someone who studied at Louisville and recommended her. Initially hesitant to join a US team due to her dislike for the country, Putra was pleasantly surprised by the positive responses from coaches during her video call.
She found herself intrigued by the opportunity to explore a new aspect of basketball and has been eager to embrace the challenge.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
