Dec 05, 2022

From Ghana to Aggieville: An unlikely journey to K-State football

Posted Dec 05, 2022 7:00 PM
Ekow Boye-Doe is playing the best football of his career as a Kansas State Wildcat, something his father would never have imagined for his son. Sophie Osborn / Kansas State Athletics
Ekow Boye-Doe is playing the best football of his career as a Kansas State Wildcat, something his father would never have imagined for his son. Sophie Osborn / Kansas State Athletics

By GREG ECHLIN
Kansas News Service

When Kofi Boye-Doe and his family emigrated from Ghana to the United States in 2003, there were two connections he wouldā€™ve never imagined making in his new country: American football and the Kansas State Wildcats.

But 19 years later, his youngest son, born in a country where soccer is practically a religion, has excelled on the gridiron. After being raised in Lawrence, on the University of Kansas doorstep, Ekow Boye-Doe is doing it in Manhattan.

Plus, the starting senior cornerback for the Wildcats is enjoying the best stretch of football in his life. One week after the Wildcatsā€™ victory over the Jayhawks, their biggest rivals, K-State is playing a 12-0 team from Texas Christian University Saturday in the Big 12 Football Championship.

ā€œIn high school I went to the playoffs, first-round, and lost,ā€ said Boye-Doe, a Lawrence High School graduate who was born in Accra, Ghanaā€™s capital city. Boye-Doe was 3 years old when his family settled in Kansas.

ā€œThat was the closest to a championship Iā€™ve ever gotten,ā€ he said.

Since then, he has distinguished himself with blazing speed.

"I mean, he's fast," senior defensive nose guard Eli Huggins said.

ā€œYou know what type of mindset and work ethic heā€™s going to show up with every day,ā€ said Huggins. ā€œItā€™s nice to have a veteran guy like that you know you can count on back there.ā€

Boye-Doeā€™s consistent defensive play has earned him a 2022 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.

ā€˜I can run really fastā€™

Kofi Boye-Doe said his sonā€™s speed comes from his mother, Valentina, who was a high school middle-distance runner in Ghana. But neither track nor soccer caught on with Ekow.

Kofi Boye-Doe and his family emigrated from Ghana to the U.S. in 2003. Greg Echlin / KCUR 89.3
Kofi Boye-Doe and his family emigrated from Ghana to the U.S. in 2003. Greg Echlin / KCUR 89.3

ā€œIā€™m not a fan of just running for fun, and the workouts honestly,ā€ said Boye-Doe with a laugh. ā€œFootball was my best option. I can run really fast.ā€

Boye-Doe remembers playing soccer after learning to walk and run in Ghana, but he got attached to football after moving to the USA. In Lawrence, his best friendā€™s dad convinced the speedy youngster to play youth football.

ā€œI stuck with it. I loved it,ā€ he said.

At Lawrence High School, Boye-Doe hardly left the field, playing wide receiver on offense, and defensive back the rest of the time.

Kofi admits he wasnā€™t crazy at first about his son deviating from the path to KU, where Ekowā€™s older twin brothers graduated. Both became successful in their own fields, one as a resident doctor in Chicago and the other as an accountant.

ā€œSports wasnā€™t my first love,ā€ Kofi said, recalling his hopes for his youngest son. ā€œGo get some sociology or something, then go to law school ā€” do something.ā€

ā€œI wasnā€™t so much into that kind of sport,ā€ said Kofi, who shied away from attending some of Ekowā€™s games early on because of how rough the gameplay was.

But all of that has changed.

ā€œOf course,ā€ laughed Kofi, who retired from the Johnson County, Kansas, Department of Corrections this year. He still teaches criminal justice at Johnson County Community College, and is a daily services coordinator for GoodLife Innovations, which provides residential and home care services for people with disabilities.

ā€œDuring my childhood, growing up, my parents taught me to appreciate life and always support your children,ā€ he said. ā€œInitially, I didnā€™t like the sport, but I have no choice but to support him.ā€

ā€œIā€™m a criminologist ā€” I study crimes for a living. If you say you want him to be a (pro) cornerback, so be it,ā€ said Kofi.

Ekow earned his social studies degree last spring, but he said heā€™d like to get a shot at playing in the NFL.

ā€œIā€™ve also had dreams and aspirations of working in the real estate business,ā€ he said.

ā€˜A mind-boggling thingā€™

One other thing thatā€™s changed is Kofiā€™s allegianceā€“from KUā€™s crimson and blue to K-Stateā€™s royal purple.

ā€œI bleed purple,ā€ he said.

KU did offer a football scholarship to his son, but only after the Wildcats had already done so. By then it was too late.

ā€œItā€™s still a mind-boggling thing,ā€ said Kofi, looking back on KUā€™s whiff.

The Jayhawksā€™ loss back then was K-Stateā€™s gain, and it has helped the Wildcats reach their first conference title game since 2003 ā€” a pretty significant year for the Boye-Doe family, too.