Who is Rena Wakama? Meet the trailblazer behind Nigeria's Olympic basketball history

The Nigeria Olympic Women's Basketball Team, led by Rena Wakama, is fresh off an impressive 79-70 win against Canada. After losing 75-54 to France last Thursday, the ball club bounced back with a 45% shooting performance and an effective defensive outing to slow down Canada's efforts. The team is now 2-1 in the competition.

So, who is Rena Wakama? She was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was raised by Johnson Wakama and Rosana Oba. Her parents are natives of Okrika, Rivers State, Nigeria. Aside from her coaching duties with the D'Tigress, she is also the assistant coach of the women's basketball team at Tulane University.

She started her mark as a basketball player when she played for four years with the Western Carolina Catamounts. She then joined the Nigeria Women's National Basketball Team, where she helped the squad finish third in the 2015 Women's AfroBasket tournament in Cameroon.

Meanwhile, her coaching experience started in her first two years at Manhattan College, where she got her master's degree in Business Administration. She was the director of the women's basketball operations and became the assistant coach. She became well-experienced in managing the development process of the players.

In 2023, Rena Wakama was named the first female head coach of the D'Tigress and successfully led her team to an AfroBasket championship title in the same year.

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Rena Wakama talked about Nigeria's win against Australia in the 2024 Paris Olympics

To start their Olympic basketball journey, Rena Wakama led Nigeria to an impressive 75-62 win against Australia. Despite only shooting 35% from the field, they were an imposing defensive nightmare for the opponent as they held them to just 39% shooting.

It was the kind of victory they needed to get things going in the right direction. Nawakama was thrilled with how it all went down as she highlighted the growth and identity of her team, as per FIBA's website.

"I have a wave emotions," Nawakama said. "I am so proud and excited for this group. I've got a lot of girls that are hungry and really shocked the world. We are tough. It's in our DNA, it's who we are —we don't back down, and I just to bring a lot of energy and passion."

Coach Rena Wakama for Nigeria Olympic Women's Basketball Team (IMAGN)

The road remains long for Rena Wakama and her team in this year's Summer Olympics. However, the upside remains promising as the culture she established in the team has led to incredible results in the international multi-sport event.

Following their win against Canada, Nigeria secured a spot in the Olympic basketball quarterfinal round. Guard Ezinne Kalu led the team with a 21-point performance (58% shooting, 40% from three-point range).