2010s

“Seneca, and the men’s basketball team, really defined me as a person.”

Hoop dreams still shine bright for former Sting star

Felix Adjei

FELIX ADJEI THINKS HE’S OLD. In basketball terms, that is. At 26, the former Seneca Sting men’s basketball star and Toronto native can still do things on a basketball court that make the average rec. league player’s jaw drop.

“I feel old. Especially when I play against these young, excited 21- and 22-year-olds,” says Felix from the floor of the Seneca@York gymnasium, where he used to practise with the Sting.

The former Ontario Colleges Athletic Association scoring champion and player of the year can’t help but drive the net and make a couple of easy (for him) layups as he talks about his memories of Seneca and his plans for the future.

“Seneca, and the men’s basketball team, really defined me as a person,” says Felix. “I loved going to school because the people around me, my coaches, faculty, the athletics and recreation staff, they really cared what happened to you. It’s people advising you on big and small life decisions. I still talk to them.”

Felix’s basketball career is far from over. After completing the Recreation and Leisure program, he served as a Residence Life advisor at Seneca and was a personal support worker with Reena, one of the GTA’s largest service agencies for individuals with developmental disabilities. But his passion for the hardcourt remained, and in 2016, an incredible opportunity surfaced when Eskilstuna, a professional team in Swedish Pro Hoops League, came calling and asked him to play.

“The experience was incredible. To use basketball as my vehicle to see the world. What more could you ask for?” says Felix. “During the day, I used my skills gained at Seneca to serve as a behaviour specialist at a local public school. At night, I was playing against some of the top players in Europe. It changed my life.”

Felix is now weighing some major life decisions about what comes next. He has the opportunity to return to Sweden for another season of game action (by night) and community work (by day), or he could pursue a professional basketball contract in the Philippines, where other Canadian basketball players have also excelled.

“I try not to think about where I might have ended up without Seneca entering my life,” says Felix. “My education, my basketball career, and my coaches at Seneca taught me what it means to be a leader, to work hard and be a great teammate. Without those things, the choices in front of me would be very, very different.”