{"id":656159,"date":"2026-05-08T14:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/656159\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T14:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:40:10","slug":"cebl-star-prince-oduros-love-of-basketball-was-shaped-in-toronto-neighbourhood-gyms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/656159\/","title":{"rendered":"CEBL star Prince Oduro\u2019s love of basketball was shaped in Toronto neighbourhood gyms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

For Prince Oduro, chasing his basketball dreams once meant leaving his hometown of Toronto behind.<\/p>\n

Like many other Canadian basketball players, the path to success ran through the United States.<\/p>\n

After a few years spent playing abroad, it turns out the opportunity he\u2019d been searching for was waiting for him at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now the longest-tenured player in Brampton Honey Badgers history, Oduro\u2019s story reflects the rise of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, a league changing what it means to \u201cmake it\u201d in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought my dreams were somewhere else,\u201d Oduro told CBC Sports. \u201cThen it\u2019s like the universe brought me back home and it was actually here.\u201d<\/p>\n

After leaving home to play Division 1 basketball in the U.S., Oduro struggled to find consistent playing time, which gradually increased when\u00a0 he began his CEBL career with the then Hamilton Honey Badgers \u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had some adversities. I didn\u2019t really get to play as much or get the opportunity I wanted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That changed when he joined the Brampton Honey Badgers. \u201cThat was the first team that believed in me and gave me a chance,\u201d he said. \u201cWith that chance, a lot of great things have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | Oduro on staying local:\"\"<\/p>\n

CEBL star Prince Oduro talks about the full circle moment of staying local for basketball<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old is going into his fifth season for the Brampton Honey Badgers.Grassroots of basketball<\/p>\n

Before his professional career began, Oduro\u2019s love for the game was shaped in Toronto neighbourhood gyms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born in the west end of Toronto. I moved around a lot, but the first place I called home was Falstaff,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s a community centre in that neighbourhood, if you know anything about basketball, there’s this team called Grassroots Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up experiencing the rich basketball culture in Toronto helped draw Oduro further into the sport. The impact of having fellow Greater Toronto Area and NBA players like Tristian Thompson and Andrew Wiggins around the community centre gym kept youth like Oduro focused on getting \u201cone per cent,\u201d better every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys are so good and passionate. They had all the pictures and trophies of the guys that came through that gym.\u201d Oduro told CBC sports, \u201cJust seeing these types of guys that look like you and doing these great things is just inspiring, especially at a young age.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Oduro, that grassroots culture is still prevalent today in the CEBL. As a pro, Oduro plays in front of his family and friends and still competes against players he grew up with.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou even have NBA players that I grew up playing against, coming back to watch CEBL games. So, it’s a great thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the game\u00a0<\/p>\n

Off the court, Oduro has another outlet: poetry.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Oduro wasn\u2019t the most attentive student in school. However, when his teacher introduced an assignment to write a poem, that\u2019s where Oduro started to develop his creative outlet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote about the brown bricks in my neighbourhood,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That assignment caught the attention of his teacher. She pulled him aside after class to offer some words of encouragement that really stuck with Oduro.<\/p>\n

Oduro\u2019s passion for poetry is still present today, on school visits he will read a poem he wrote about basketball to the students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | CEBL coach says league ‘done the right way’:\"\"<\/p>\n

CEBL coach Kimbal Mackenzie says the league is ‘done the right way’<\/p>\n

The 2026 CEBL season begins on May 9. and will stream on CBC and CBC Gem.Full circle moment<\/p>\n

Oduro was a part of the Honey badgers team that won a championship during the 2022 season.<\/p>\n

General manager Jermaine Anderson spoke of the importance of having a player like Oduro be a part of the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came in, worked his butt off, and he ended up starting a number of games for us and helped us win a championship,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cNow he\u2019s not only a player but an ambassador for our organization and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winning another championship is something Oduro strives for, but further growth as a person and pro with Brampton is also what he wants to accomplish this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I’m just trying to be more in the moment, be grateful for what I have here,\u201d he said. \u201cThe basketball doesn’t bounce forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oduro and the Honey Badgers begin their season on May 15 when they host the Ottawa BlackJacks, which will be live streamed on CBC Sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In one of his poems, Prince describes himself as a boy that carried his basketball everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to take my basketball everywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, basketball’s taking me everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now it\u2019s taken him right back to where he started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-656159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}