Who Is Rena Wakama? Every part You Have to Know Concerning the Nigerian Girls’s Basketball Staff’s Head Coach

Nigeria is jubilant. Nigeria’s ladies’s basketball workforce has gained everybody’s hearts and put African basketball on the map as they turned the first-ever workforce (Males or ladies) from the continent to sail by way of the quarter closing within the Olympics. The ladies, led by head coach Rena Wakama, scripted history as they triumphed over Canada 79-70. Whereas the gamers have been good all through, credit score has to go to Wakama, who has utterly reworked the Nigerian basketball panorama in over a 12 months. 

Rena Wakama was an unpopular title within the basketball world however she has carried out wonders ever since she was appointed as a head coach of the nationwide workforce final 12 months in June. So as to add extra weight to her appointment, Wakama was the primary ever feminine who was given the cost of D’Tigress and undoubtedly she has been phenomenal up to now. Immediately we delve into this player-turned-head coach’s achievements and her profession background.

Rena Wakama’s Journey from Participant to Pioneer

So, the story begins in Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 11, 1992. That’s when Rena Wakama was born and caught the basketball bug early, due to her cousin, Onimisi Aiyede. Wakama headed to Western Carolina College in 2010. She wasn’t simply there to relax; she was ballin’ exhausting for the Catamounts! After grabbing her diploma in Therapeutic Recreation, she determined to stage up and bought an MBA from Manhattan Faculty. 

Her professional basketball journey kicked off in 2014 when she turned an athlete of FIBA in the UK. Nonetheless, Wakama had her patriotism calling, which pushed her to change nations and be a part of FIBA Africa, representing Nigeria on the court docket. Rocking it for her nation, she performed for Nigeria’s First Financial institution workforce within the Africa Champions Cup. The main breakthrough occurred in Cameroon when she donned the Nigerian jersey in 2015 Girls’s AfroBasket event. However wait, there’s extra!

In 2017, Rena traded her jersey for a go well with and have become the Director of Basketball Operations at Manhattan Faculty. She was the boss and dealt with budgets, bills, and all that admin stuff. She spent six seasons at Manhattan Faculty, beginning off because the Director after which transitioning to the function of Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the final 4.

Proper now, she’s additionally an assistant coach for the Tulane College ladies’s basketball workforce. Earlier than becoming a member of Tulane, Wakama spent a 12 months as an Assistant Coach at Stony Brook, starting in July 2023. However let’s give attention to the continuing thrilling chapter of her profession as head coach of D’Tigress. It’s been a exceptional 12 months for Wakama.

Rena Wakama’s Influence on D’Tigress

Rena Wakama introduced her title out loud when she led D’Tigress to their fourth consecutive 2023 AfroBasket title. She turned the primary lady to win the event. Properly, it was simply the primary of many milestones as in a while Wakama helped her workforce to qualify for the Olympics.

And when everybody would have thought Nigeria may have one other Olympics to neglect rapidly, Wakama’s workforce shocked everybody once they upset Australia of their first sport and gave Nigeria their first victory within the final 20 years. Nonetheless, that they had a bump when hosts France overpowered them of their second sport.

Nonetheless, with the victory in opposition to Canada, D’Tigress have to be assured concerning the street forward. Rena Wakama’s journey from an under-the-radar determine to a trailblazing head coach has impressed a continent. Her management has elevated Nigeria’s ladies’s basketball workforce to historic Olympic success, igniting hope and pleasure throughout Africa, and she is going to look to proceed the story within the quarter finals.

Keep tuned for extra such updates and be a part of us for the thrilling pilot episode of the “Twin Menace Present” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Staff Choice, Silas Demary Jr.