Saturday, August 5, was another memorable day for Nigerian basketball as the national women’s team, D’Tigress won their fourth consecutive title after a thrilling 84-74 victory over Senegal in the final of the 2023 Afrobasket tournament in Kigali, Rwanda.
With that victory, the Nigerian side made history to become only the second team ever after Senegal to win four consecutive titles.
It will be noted that the team went 12 years without a title but the drought ended in 2017 when they were crowned champions again.
That moment signalled a new beginning for the team as they followed up with victories in 2019, 2021 and now 2023.
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The road to Rwanda was tough and rough. Prior to the tournament, the team was barred from international tournaments by former President Muhammadu Buhari and by the time it was lifted, some key players had lost interest and the motivation to don the national colours.
And within that same period, D’Tigress were without a Head Coach as Otis Hughley had resigned from his position.
However, two weeks before the tournament in Rwanda dunked off, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) engaged an ‘unknown’ Rena Wakama to lead a team dominated by ‘rookies’ and one or two experienced players.
Being the first female Head Coach of D’Tigress, the odds were heavily against her. Not many people gave her a chance to do what the male coaches had done in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
However, right from the opening group match against Congo DR, D’Tigress continually shut down critics. After blowing away hosts Rwanda in the semi-final, D’Tigress had sent a message they were going for the top prize and that was what they did in the final against Senegal at the BK Arena in Kigali.
Without any doubt, the most intriguing part of D’Tigress’ achievement in Kigali is the technical and managerial abilities of Coach Wakama which made the victory possible. As soon as she was unveiled as the next Head Coach of the team, she asked for trials for the women’s team in colleges in the United States, Europe, Lagos, and Abuja. The tryouts were held in order to find fresh players for the team ahead of the competition in Rwanda.
Irked by her decision to throw the camp open , some of the established D’Tigress players, particularly those who were part of the squad that won the title in 2021 stayed away from the ‘screening exercise’ while some out rightly retired from international basketball.
Adaora Elonu, the team’s captain for the 2021 Afrobasket win, was among the players, as were Ezinne Kalu, Promise Amukamara, Victoria Macaulay, and Ify Ibekwe.
Not deterred by the loss of the top players, the 31-year-old Wakama trudged on with the rookies and succeeded with them on the Rwandan courts to become the first female coach to win the competition since its inception in 1966.
Who is Rena Wakama?
Wakama was born on April 11, 1992, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Johnson Wakama and Rosana Oba, both of whom are from Okrika, Rivers State.
She had a brief playing career before joining the D’Tigress right after graduating from college in 2015. Following her graduation, Wakama played professional basketball, making stops in the United Kingdom and the FIBA African Basketball League, in addition to playing for the D’Tigress.
She was a member of D’Tigress squad to the Afrobasket Championship in Cameroon in 2015 but didn’t play as she said her name was not on the team list for she had missed the registration deadline.
Wakama’s rise to the top of the basketball world began in 2005, when her team, First Bank, competed in the African Female Club Championship. After a year, she relocated to the United Kingdom, where she continued to play until she was called up to play for D’Tigress in 2015.
Following her Masters programme, Wakama was hired as the Director of Basketball Operations at Manhattan College, an administrative position far removed from the spotlight of the basketball court. This post, however, would prepare her for the challenges that awaited her as the head coach of the Nigerian national women’s basketball team.
Wakama was a four-year letterman at Western Carolina University and also played professional basketball in the United Kingdom.
She graduated from Western Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in Therapeutic Recreation in 2014 and from Manhattan with an MBA in 2019. A standout at Western Carolina University, she made 121 starts over her four-year career with the Catamounts.
During her senior year in 2013-14, Wakama averaged 10.4 points per game and received Southern Conference All-Tournament Second Team honors. She was also a three-time SoCon Academic Team honoree.
Wakama is also in her fourth year as an assistant coach at Manhattan College where she guides the development of the wing/guard position players, having previously served as Director of Women’s Basketball Operations for two years.
According to her resume on Manhattan College Athletics portal, under her guidance, the Jaspers achieved a program-high 3.61 team GPA and finished fifth in Division I women’s basketball in community service hours.
She assisted in the development of Davis and Brazil Harvey-Carr, who earned postseason All-MAAC accolades during the 2021/22 season.
If in less than a month in charge of the national team, Wakama is able to end men’s dominance in the women’s Afrobsket championship, expectations are that under her, D’Tigress would make a huge impact on bigger stages such as the FIBA World Cup and Olympic Games.