Latest news with #Wakama
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rena Wakama looks to make her mark in the WNBA after excelling on Olympic, international stages
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Nigerian women's basketball team reached heights it never had before. Known as D'Tigress, the team beat Australia, a perennial basketball power, and Canada in pool play to earn a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time in the country's history. Though they lost that quarterfinal game to the U.S., their surprise run helped them make their mark on the international basketball scene. At the helm of that team was 33-year-old Rena Wakama, an up-and-coming coach who was also an assistant at Tulane. Advertisement Tyler Marsh, then an assistant for the Las Vegas Aces, couldn't help but notice what the Nigerian team had accomplished, and who had prepared them for the tournament. When the Chicago Sky hired Marsh to be the team's head coach last November, he immediately thought of Wakama and what she'd done with D'Tigress. 'Once you become a coach, it's hard to just view the game through the lens of just a regular fan. So you're always looking at how other coaches coach and adapt and things like that,' Marsh told Yahoo Sports. 'She was someone that caught my eye, and before I even knew that I had this job. When I was able to build my own staff here in Chicago, she was one of the few people that came to my mind.' Rena Wakama celebrates with her Nigeria squad after winning a pool play matchup with Canada during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Photo by Sameer AL-DOUMY/AFP) (SAMEER AL-DOUMY via Getty Images) Wakama, who is the first female coach of D'Tigress and was named Best Coach by FIBA after the Olympics, was on board from her first conversations with Marsh and Jeff Pagliocca, the Sky's general manager. Coaching in the WNBA also gives her a chance to build on what she learned coaching the Nigerian team. Advertisement 'My first conversation with him, I was fired up. I thought I was a player. He got me so excited about his vision and what he was going to do with the Sky,' Wakama said. 'And then after that, I spoke to Jeff. And then he was also so aligned with Tyler's vision and getting a taste of working with pros for the national team, I wanted more. I was super interested in coming to the W and I'm so happy that it was what felt right.' Wakama and the rest of the coaching staff aren't beginning an easy job with the Sky. Though the team won a WNBA championship in 2021, the team has changed head coaches three times since then and lost key franchise centerpieces. They won just 13 games last season. Now they have several young and exciting players, including 2024 draft picks Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso and 2025 pick Hailey Van Lith, and veterans who know how to win titles in Ariel Atkins and Courtney Vandersloot, who's back in Chicago after picking up her second WNBA title with the New York Liberty. Now, Wakama's job is to help the Sky jell as a team and make it back to the postseason. She will do that while balancing her job with the Nigerian team. Wakama can keep an eye out for WNBA players with Nigerian roots. She has two on the Sky with Michaela Onyenwere, whose father was a sprinter for Nigeria, and Elizabeth Williams, who was born in Great Britain to Nigerian parents. Advertisement Wakama will also need a strong Nigerian team. With the AfroBasket tournament in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, this summer, there will be a target on the back of the D'Tigress team. They won the event in 2023, and their Olympic performance showed what they can accomplish. 'Obviously, to me, we fell kind of short," Wakama said. "To everyone else, we made a historic run [in Paris]. But to me, that wasn't enough, right? So continuing to prepare, continuing to instill the faith and belief in my players in this organization that we can, you know, be on the podium hopefully in the next three or four years. That's possible.' Advertisement Balancing two demanding jobs isn't easy, but Wakama's work with the Nigerian team is about helping grow the sport she loves in the country she loves. 'That's the root of who I am, a Nigerian, and I want to make sure that I, at any time, I let people know, and I want to also be a part of the movement of improving basketball in my country,' Wakama said. 'So it's super, super important to me, and I'm glad I'm able to be the face of it right now, but I hope to pass it on in a few years to another young female coach and continue to see the game grow.'
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Chicago Sky Appoint FIBA's Best Coach Of The Tournament At Paris 2024, Nigeria's Head Coach Rena Wakama As Assistant Coach
The Chicago Sky have made a significant move by adding Rena Wakama to their coaching staff as an assistant coach under Head Coach Tyler Marsh. This appointment not only brings international expertise to the team but also demonstrates the Sky's commitment to incorporating diverse coaching backgrounds to enhance their performance on the court. Rena Wakama's coaching journey is truly inspirational. In June 2023, she became the first female head coach of Nigeria's D'Tigress. Under her visionary leadership, the team achieved its fourth consecutive AfroBasket title, marking a historic milestone in her career. Her tenure reached a new peak at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she led the D'Tigress to a remarkable quarterfinal appearance—making history as the first African team to reach this stage in Olympic basketball. A standout moment of that campaign was a convincing 75-62 victory over Australia, showcasing her ability to coach teams that exceed expectations. Following her success at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Wakama shared her coaching philosophy in an interview with At its core is a commitment to meticulous preparation. As she stated, "there's pressure everywhere—to perform, to succeed." This mindset was cultivated early in her career through the guiding principle of the "five P's": prior preparation prevents poor performance. By consistently putting herself in challenging situations, Wakama ensures she is always ready to seize opportunities and overcome obstacles. This disciplined and proactive approach, honed on the international stage, is set to foster a culture of resilience and readiness within the Chicago Sky. Before her groundbreaking achievements with Nigeria, Wakama honed her skills in player development and team management as the director of women's basketball operations at Manhattan College. This collegiate experience provided her with a robust foundation in nurturing emerging talent. Her expertise is expected to be invaluable for the Sky, particularly in developing promising young players like Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. With her proven track record of transforming potential into performance, Wakama is well-positioned to help these athletes elevate their games. The Sky's recent offseason has been characterized by strategic roster overhauls aimed at building a championship-caliber team. The inclusion of seasoned professionals—such as Ariel Atkins, whose All-Star credentials and defensive prowess add depth, and Courtney Vandersloot, a veteran playmaker known for her record-setting assists—works perfectly alongside the infusion of fresh talent. This blend of experience and emerging skill, combined with Wakama's innovative coaching approach, positions the Chicago Sky as formidable contenders in the upcoming season. Wakama's philosophy of thorough preparation and strategic resilience aligns seamlessly with the Sky's mission to build a disciplined, future-ready team. As the Sky integrate international expertise with innovative strategies, they are in a prime position to elevate their performance in the upcoming WNBA season.
