Godzilla Genes: Ghana’s 11-year-old 6’5 female basketball player looking to dominate the WNBA

You think about basketball, and immediately height comes to mind. Yes, there have been big names like two-time All Star, Isaiah Thomas, listed as 5ft9, and NBA legend Chris Paul, hitting only 6’0.

According to the NBA, there was a total of 27 players who appeared in at least one game of the 2021/22 season listed at 6 feet and below.

However, it’s more popular for the taller guys to dominate the game, with Shaquille O’Neal breaking the barriers to hit 7ft1, LeBron James in at 6ft9 and Kobe Bryant in at 6ft6.

Scientifically, it is believed boys hit a growth spurt later than girls as they experience a bloom between ages 13 to 15. Females on the other hand have their spurts start at age 8 and hit a height peak two years after their first period.

But to hit a height of 6ft5, three years after only being 5ft5 – is ‘Godzillian’, and Catherine Maame Serwaa Banahene, an 11-year-old basketball player in Accra has the genes of a Godzilla.

She’s a project still undergoing construction and some distance away from being a finished product. But the progress made in the last 36 months indicates she is one well worth the sacrifice, and if there is anyone besides Catherine ready to give all, it will be Koomson, who has plenty to let go in order to make sure a potential mammoth is equipped with all she will need in her journey.