Chiney Ogwumike

Chinenye "Chiney" Ogwumike (born March 21, 1992) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for The Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and plays power forward. She played in three Final Fours with Stanford University. She holds the record for most rebounds in the history of Stanford Women's Basketball and the Pac-12 Conference, as of January 3, 2014.[1] In 2014, Ogwumike signed an endorsement deal with Nike soon after being drafted first overall in the WNBA.[2] As of 2016, Ogwumike was elected Vice-President of the WNBA Players Association, and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas.[3] In May 2018, Ogwumike signed a multi-year contract with ESPN to become a full-time basketball analyst.[4]

Chiney Ogwumike
No. 13 – Los Angeles Sparks
PositionPower forward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1992-03-21) March 21, 1992
Tomball, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight174 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolCy-Fair (Cypress, Texas)
CollegeStanford (2010–2014)
WNBA draft2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st overall
Selected by the Connecticut Sun
Playing career2014–present
Career history
2014–2018Connecticut Sun
2014–2015Famila Schio
2016Henan Phoenix
2019–presentLos Angeles Sparks
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals
Women’s Basketball
Representing  United States
U18 and U19
2010 U18 Colorado SpringsTeam Competition
World University Games
2011 Shenzhen Team Competition
Basketball 3x3
World Championship
2012 AthensWomen's

High school

Born in Tomball, Texas,[5] Ogwumike attended Cypress Fairbanks High School in nearby Cypress, Texas, winning the 5A State Championship in her sophomore and senior seasons.[6] Ogwumike was named a WBCA and McDonald's All-American.[7] She participated in the 2010 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored 24 points,[8] and earned MVP honors for the White team.[9]

College

Ogwumike chose Stanford over Connecticut and Notre Dame, joining her sister Nneka Ogwumike.[10]

Ogwumike ended her Stanford career in 2014 as the all-time career scoring leader for either sex in Pac-12 Conference history, a record that fell in 2016 to Kelsey Plum of Washington.[11]

USA Basketball

Ogwumike was named to the USA Basketball U18 team. The USA team was one of eight teams from North, South and Central America, along with the Caribbean, invited to participate in the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Women, held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team was coached by Jennifer Rizzotti. Ogwumike started all five games and was the leading scorer with 13.2 points per game. She was also the leading rebounder with 7.4 rebounds per game. The USA team won all five games and captured the gold medal.[12][13]

The usual sequence is for the players on the U18 team to move to the U19 team. However. Ogwumike played so well as a U18 that she was promoted to the World University Games team for the 2011 World University Games held in Shenzhen, China. Chiney was not the only Ogwumike on the team, as her sister, Nneka Ogwumike, was also on the team. Both started every game, with Chiney scoring almost ten points per game. She hit 25 of 37 shot attempts for a team leading 67.6% shooting percentage. She helped the USA win all six games and earn the gold medal.[14]

Overseas career

In the 2014–15 European season, Ogwumike played in Italy for Famila Schio.[15] During the 2016 WNBA season, Ogwumike had signed with Henan Phoenix of the WCBA for the 2016–17 Chinese season.[16] In her fifth game with the team, Ogwumike scored 56 points (on 23 of 24 field goal shooting) along with 12 rebounds[17][18] She would end up winning first round MVP, averaging 33.6 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game, prior to her achilles injury.[19]

WNBA career

Ogwumike was drafted first overall in the 2014 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun. In her rookie season, Ogwumike became a starter, averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game. She was named a WNBA All-Star along with her sister Nneka Ogwumike, becoming the first pair of sisters to be selected into a WNBA All-Star game.[20] Ogwumike would also win the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2014.

Ogwumike sat out the entire 2015 season while recovering from a micro-fracture on her right knee that she sustained months before the season.

Ogwumike came back healthy for the 2016 season, playing 33 games with 18 starts while averaging 12.6 points per game. She had scored a career-high 26 points along with 15 rebounds in a regular season game win against the Dallas Wings.[21] In December 2016, it was announced that Ogwumike had undergone surgery after injuring her achilles while playing overseas in China during the WNBA offseason.[22] She was ruled out with an estimated recovery period of 6–9 months, which caused her to miss the 2017 WNBA season.[23]

In April 2017, Ogwumike was suspended by the Sun for the entire 2017 season to free up a roster spot due to her injury and that same month she also signed a contract extension.[24]

On May 20, 2018, Ogwumike made her return to the Sun in their season debut, playing her first WNBA game in two years. In 17 minutes of play, she scored 9 points in the starting lineup in a 101–65 victory over the Las Vegas Aces.[25][26] On June 30, 2018, Ogwumike scored a new career-high of 30 points in a 103-92 loss to the Seattle Storm.[27] Later on in the 2018 season, it was announced that Ogwumike was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her second all-star appearance.[28] The Sun finished as the number 4 seed in the league with a 21–13 record, receiving a bye to the second round elimination game. The Sun would lose 96-86 to the Phoenix Mercury.

On April 28, 2019, Ogwumike was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks for a 2020 first round pick, reuniting her with her sister Nneka.[29]

Career statistics
College career statistics[30]
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010–11 Stanford 35 409 .574 .000 .626 8.0 0.9 1.5 0.8 11.7
2011–12 Stanford 37 556 .583 .000 .663 10.1 1.4 0.8 1.2 15.0
2012–13 Stanford 36 805 .586 .250 .776 12.9 1.5 1.4 1.7 22.4
2013–14 Stanford 37 967 .601 .267 .713 12.1 1.7 1.2 1.8 26.1
Career 145 2,737 .589 .263 .705 10.8 1.4 1.2 1.4 18.9

Awards
  • 2010 – WBCA High School Coaches' All-America Team[7]
  • 2014 – ESPNW First Team All-American[31]
  • 2014 – USBWA All-American team[32]

See also

References
  1. Ogwumike sets rebound mark, dominates Oregon in Cardinal win
  2. INSIDE ACCESS: INTRODUCING NNEKA AND CHINEY OGWUMIKE
  3. MVP Nneka Ogwumike elected WNBA players' union president
  4. EXCLUSIVE: WNBA Star Chiney Ogwumike Signs Multi-Year Agreement With ESPN To Become Regular Analyst
  5. "Chiney Ogwumike - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  6. USA Basketball profile
  7. "Past WBCA HS Coaches' All-America Teams". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  8. "WBCA High School All-America Game Box Scores". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  9. "WBCA High School All-America Game Team MVP's". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  10. "espn.go.com: Chiney Ogwumike opts for Stanford". ESPN. November 12, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  11. Allen, Percy (December 11, 2016). "Kelsey Plum becomes Pac-12 all-time leading scorer, scores 44 to lift UW past Boise State". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  12. "EIGHTH WOMEN'S FIBA AMERICAS U18 CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN – 2010". USA Basketball. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  13. "Incoming Stanford freshman Ogwumike leads USA U18 hoop team to gold". Palo Alto Online Sports. June 28, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  14. "TWENTY-SIXTH WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES – 2011". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on April 28, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  15. CHINEY OGWUMIKE
  16. Chinese WCBA round 5 best performance: Chiney Ogwumike
  17. Chinese League Round 5 October 25th
  18. WNBA Players Making Their Mark Overseas
  19. Sun's Chiney Ogwumike Could Miss Entire Season
  20. Ogwumike sisters headline WNBA All-Star reserves
  21. Chiney Ogwumike Scores Career-High 26 To Lead Sun Past Wings
  22. Connecticut Sun forward Chiney Ogwumike could miss 2017 season following Achilles surgery
  23. Chiney Ogwumike Undergoes Achilles Surgery
  24. Sun offer Chiney Ogwumike contract extension, suspend her for season
  25. Preview: Connecticut Sun hosts Las Vegas Aces in the teams’ season opener
  26. [Preview: Connecticut Sun hosts Las Vegas Aces in the teams’ season opener Mohegan Sun Arena Sunday, May 20, 2018]
  27. Howard’s career-high 25 points lift Storm past Sun
  28. Chiney Ogwumike’s Road To All-Star Return
  29. Sparks Trade For Chiney Ogwumike
  30. "NCAA® Career Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  31. "Slideshow: espnW All-Americans". ESPN. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  32. "USBWA ANNOUNCES 2013–14". U.S. Basketball Writers Association. March 31, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
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