My name is 楊剴平, from LA, California, in America. I always looked up to my father; watching him and his team play basketball made me realize I wanted to be a part of the basketball life. I quickly fell in love with basketball and wanted to start my own journey.

I played in many small leagues as a little kid, having my dad as my coach most of the time. He always coached me through my younger years. I attended Ontario Christian Middle School and played on the middle school basketball team. Basketball at that time was fun and easy, and I felt myself improving every day.

Then COVID-19 happened, and my 8th-grade year was cut short. During this quarantine, I didn’t improve much and stayed inside most of the time. I didn’t practice my skills nor did I try to find the time to go outside in my backyard to shoot some hoops.

When my freshman year came around and we were allowed to play again, I wasn’t ready. I was put on the B team while the better players were on the A team. This frustrated me, and I started to work harder and harder.

My sophomore year was also difficult for me. I didn’t play much at all. I was low on confidence and spent many nights sitting in my room losing hope for my basketball dream. I had to decide whether to give up or keep trusting the process and work harder. I knew this was a problem only I could fix and that I couldn’t give up. During the summer after the season, I practiced every day and honed my skills as hard as I could.

In my junior year of high school, the hard work paid off. I helped my team make it to the final four and also helped my team reach the state playoffs. I also achieved some awards that year.

In my last year of high school, I received a couple of offers to play at smaller schools in America. Our team didn’t do quite well due to many team issues. We fell short, but again, I was able to achieve awards as the season progressed and ended.

As my season was coming to an end, I had to decide which college I wanted to attend. That is when Wei Ge and the National Chengchi University in Taipei’s coaching staff gave me the opportunity to play on the team and further my education.

I thought long and hard with my family and believed that God wanted me to pursue my basketball career overseas. I took the opportunity and left behind my home to come play for NCCU.