Not since 2018 have the University of Regina Cougars had a sister duo playing for the team.
Back then it was Kyia and Kyanna Giles tearing up the court on the Cougars’ way to a national bronze medal.
Fast forward six years and Cougars head coach Dave Taylor now has another talented sibling pair at his disposal.
Ironically, Kyu and Izzi Fust, like the Giles sisters, are from Winnipeg.
“Well the big thing is talent, they’re both incredibly talented. Kyu was the player of the year in Manitoba her Grade 12 year and then Izzi was last year, so obviously if you can get the player of the year, it often helps a lot,” said Taylor.
Kyu is the elder of the two sisters but only by one year.
In her rookie season with the Cougars last year, she had a great veteran mentor in Cara Misskey, who also came to the team from outside Regina. Misskey hails from Warman, Sask.
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Still, the older Fust says she missed playing with her younger sister, as the two played together at Dakota Collegiate prior to post-secondary basketball.
“It’s really nice, it’s just comfort and like a piece of home on the court, and last year that was missing for me and I think it’s just really nice and really helpful for me to have her here,” said Kyu.
With how close the Fust sisters are, many thought once Kyu committed last year that Izzi would automatically follow suit, but that was not the case.
Izzi had no shortage of suitors around the country trying to sway her to come to their school.
In the end, Regina won out, and while Kyu had a big hand in the ultimate decision, Izzi also said she wanted to get out of Manitoba, while being close enough to home to make visits.
“Last year, Regina had a pretty good season, they had a rough end to it, but they had a pretty good record for the majority of the season, and I knew that was something that I wanted to be a part of. I’ve looked up to my sister my whole life, so seeing her grow on this team and develop, I knew that was something I wanted to do, ” said Izzi.
Taylor is excited to get the sisters out on the court together this season.
“They’re very different players. Kyu’s going to really help us on the defensive end, that’s kind of the long term thing where she can be a shutdown defender for us, obviously still score… whereas Izzi I think can help us more on the offensive end,” he said.
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