UConn rising sophomore Kia Nurse is one of 13 players selected to play for Canada in an upcoming six-game European trip.

Considering that she was a starter on a team that finished fifth in the FIBA World Championship for Women and a cornerstone player of her country's national team program, this would have to be about as surprising as the news that Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson were selected to play for the U.S. in the Pan Am Games.

Two players who UConn played against last year (UCLA's Nirra Fields and Dayton's Saicha Grant-Allen) were also named to the team along with the Kim Gaucher, Miranda Ayim and Katherine Plouffe who were the only Canadian players to average more points than Nurse in the world championships.

The tour begins a week from today in Logrono, Spain against Poland followed by international friendlies against Great Britain on May 29 and Spain on May 30. The team then moves to France for games against Poland (June 3), Italy (June 4) and France (June 5). Nurse's schedule figures to include suiting up for Canada in the Pan Am Games from July 16-20 and the Olympic qualifying FIBA Americas Women's Championship from Aug. 9-16.

While Nurse's schedule is about to get busy, the same can't be said for her brother Darnell. After his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds were eliminated from the OHL playoffs Nurse joined the Oklahoma City Barons in the AHL playoffs. Nurse, a first-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2013, had four assists and had a plus/minus rating of plus 3 in four games but the Greyhounds lost to the Utica Comets 1-0 in the final game of the best of 7 Western Conference semifinal. If Oklahoma City had won that game and then beaten Grand Rapids, Nurse would have played at least a couple of games in New England as the Hartford Wolfpack meet the Manchester (N.H.) Monarchs in the Eastern Conference final.

Nurse was named to the OHL all-star team yesterday.