- Wakama, the first Nigerian female basketball coach, made history after leading Nigeria to the quarter-finals in Paris.
Head coach of the Nigerian women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, Rena Wakama, has emerged as the best female basketball coach at the Paris 2024 Olympics campaign.
“Best coach of #Paris2024 Women’s Basketball.. Rene Wakama, Nigeria 🇳🇬,” the International Basketball Federation announced on X, formerly Twitter on Saturday.
Wakama, the first Nigerian female basketball coach, made history after leading Nigeria to the quarter-finals in Paris.
It is the first time an African team (both men and women) will achieve such unprecedented feat in the competition.
Nigeria lost to Team USA in the quarter finals after defeating high-ranking Australia and Canada in the previous rounds.
Despite losing 74-88 to Team USA, her leadership and coaching acumen didn’t evade the attention of FIBA officials who voted for her.
Wakama’s accolade and recognition will give Nigerians something to cheer about after an abysmal outing at the Olympics that saw the nation end the summer games without a medal.
Appointed in June 2023 amid widespread doubts and misgivings because of her limited international experience, the 32-year-old had since gone on to prove skeptics wrong, shattering misconceptions along the way, breaking records and making history at the summer games.
Critics had 101 reasons why the appointment was questionable.
In trying to sell what they described as the “best choice” at the time, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) introduced Wakama as a former D’Tigress player