Who Is D’Tigress’ Rena Wakama, First Female Coach To Win AfroBasket?

Less than a month before the 2023 Women’s AfroBasket competition, the Nigeria Basketball Association confirmed the appointment of coach Rena Wakama to lead Nigeria’s National Female Basketball Team, D’Tigress, to the tournament.

Ahead of the tournament, the question was can the D’Tigress who just appointed a new coach do well at the tournament and equal Senegal’s record of being the only women’s basketball team to win the AfroBasket a record four straight times?

Interestingly, it was a smooth ride for coach Rena Wakama and his girl at the tournament as they beat all the teams on their way to the final convincingly. Fortunately for them, they met Senegal in the final of the tournament and the Nigerian team used them to equal their record.

The keenly contested basketball match between the two African giants ended 84-74 in favour of the D’Tigress as Nigeria went on to become the second country after Senegal to win the Women’s AfroBasket a record four straight times.

Also, the D’Tigress coach, Rena Wakama made a huge name for herself as she became the first woman to lead a team to win the tournament since it started in 1966.

Who is this Rena Wakama who halted the 57-year-old male coaches’ dominance at the AfroBasket?

Naija News gathered that Rena Wakama is a native of Okrika in Rivers State, Nigeria who was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, the United States on April 11, 1992. This means that the vibrant and electric coach is just 31 years old when she led the D’Tigress to win the AfroBasket in 2023.

Rena Wakama’s father is known as Johnson Wakama and her mother’s name is Rosana Oba.

She graduated from Western Carolina University in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in therapeutic recreation. During her days at the University, Wakama served with the school’s women’s basketball team, known as “Catamounts.”

After graduating from the University, Rena Wakama ventured into professional basketball, and in 2015, she had the opportunity to represent Nigeria when she was named to the D’Tigress squad for the 2015 Women’s Afrobasket hosted by Cameroon.

Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t play in the tournament because her name was not listed on the Nigerian national roster before the deadline for the registration elapsed. In her absence on the court, Nigeria finished third in the tournament.

However, that didn’t deter her from pursuing a career in basketball in Nigeria as she played for First Bank Women’s Basketball team and followed them to the Women’s FIBA Africa Champions Cup.

Afterward, Rena Wakama switched to coaching and relocated to Manhattan College. In her first two years at the University, she worked as the school’s women’s basketball team’s operations director.

In her third year at the institution, Wakama was named the team’s assistant coach and also served as the team’s academic and volunteer liaison until she was named the head coach of the D’Tigress in June 2023.

A month and a few days after, Rena Wakama became the first woman coach to lead a team (D’Tigress) to win the prestigious Women’s AfroBasket.