Ransford Brempong (born July 22, 1981) is a former

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

National Team member and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Fraser Valley Bandits The Vancouver Bandits are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Langley, British Columbia, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The Bandits play home games at Langley Events Centre, located in the Fraser Valle ...

of the

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

(CEBL). He is currently the Lead Assistant Coach for the Bandits. Previously he was on the broadcasting team as the colour commentator for the team. He also runs his WCT Hoops basketball organization at the grassroots level. Continually providing opportunities for the next generation of basketball players in BC to reach their next level.

Career

Brempong played college basketball for the

Western Carolina Catamounts The Western Carolina Catamounts are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Western Carolina University. The Catamounts compete in the NCAA Division I as members of the Southern Conference. Western Carolina fields 16 varsity sports t ...

where he was a five year starter. While at WCU he broke his conferences' all time shot block record. He then went on to play professionally and played for

Matrixx Magixx Matrixx Magixx was a professional basketball team based in Nijmegen and later Wijchen. The club played in the Dutch Basketball League (DBL), the Dutch top-tier league. Home games of the Magixx were played in Sporthal De Arcus since 2012, therefore ...

and Donar (then named Hanzevast Capitals for sponsorship reasons) in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Bayer Giants Leverkusen Bayer Giants Leverkusen is a professional basketball club, part of the Bayer 04 Leverkusen, TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen sports club based in Leverkusen, Germany. It currently plays in ProB, the third division of German basketball. Based on the numbe ...

and Gloria Giants Düsseldorf in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 2018, after being retired for six years Brempong joined the St. John's Edge of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC). He then went on to play for the

of the

(CEBL) in 2019. Brempong also spent nearly eight years playing for the Canadian National Team. He first made the Junior National Team in 2001 and eventually made his way up the ranks to the Senior Men's team where he competed for three summers. During this time Brempong had the fortune to play with and against many basketball greats such as Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Kelly Olynyk, and Kevin Martin.

Personal

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to parents from

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, west Africa. Brempong moved to Toronto in 1993 where he spent the rest of his elementary/high school days in Thornhill, Ontario. While in high school, Ransford was selected his senior year as a Toronto Star top-5 player in the greater Toronto area. He spent five years in North Carolina where he went to Western Carolina University. In 2012, he was in a car accident where he broke his back. He spent the next four years doing extensive rehab before being able to make a full recovery and play basketball again six years later. Ransford currently lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia. He is married and has three children.

References

External links

Eurobasket profile
1981 births Living people Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Donar (basketball club) players Dutch Basketball League players Matrixx Magixx players Power forwards Basketball players from Brampton Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball players St. John's Edge players Vancouver Bandits players Black Canadian basketball players Black Canadian sportsmen Canadian people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent 21st-century Canadian sportsmen {{canada-basketball-bio-stub