Who is Chiney Ogwumike? Biography, Boyfriend, Family, Net Worth

The Ogwumike surname has become synonymous with basketball in the United States, just as the name Williams has become synonymous with tennis. While the former produced two popular names in the basketball world – Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, the latter also produced two amazing names in the tennis world – Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Just like his sister Nneka Ogwumike, Chiney Ogwumike took his love for basketball to a professional level and currently plays for the Connecticut Sun of the WNAA. She has worked with Sun since 2014 after the team selected her in the 2014 WNBA draft. Since her professional debut, Chiney won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in the same year. Below are all the other exciting facts you should know about this sensational and talented player.

Biography,

Chiney, as she is popularly known, was born on March 21, 1992, to parents of Nigerian descent as Chinenye Ogwumike. Like her sister, she started playing basketball at Cypress Fairbanks High School in Cypress, Texas.

She was part of the WBCA High School 2010All-America Game where she won the MVP title for the white team. After high school, Chiney, like her big sister, chose Stanford over Notre Dame and Connecticut.

During her college career, she starred in three Final Finals on January 3, 2014, a record held by Washington’s Kelsey Plum.

WNBA Career

Chiney Ogwumike was selected first overall in the Connecticut Sun’s 2014 WNBA Draft and she’s stuck with them ever since. She did very well in her rookie season, setting an average record of 15.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game, she was quickly named WNBA All-Star alongside her big sister Nneka Ogwumike – breaking records as the first pair selected in a WNBA All-Star game.

She also won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in 2014 and signed an endorsement deal with Nike shortly after being drafted by the Connecticut Sun.

Chiney was benched for the entire 2015 season following an injury, she had her right knee well before the start of the season. She returned for the 2016 season and played in 33 games, averaging 12.6 points per game.

However, in December 2016, it was necessary for Chiney Ogwumike to undergo surgery after injuring her Achilles tendon while playing overseas during the WNBA off-season. As a result of the surgery, she missed the 2017 WNBA season. Also in 2016, she was elected Vice President of the WNBA Players Association.

The sun suspended her for the entire 2017 season to free up a place on the board due to her injury, in the same year, precisely in April 2017, she also signed a contract extension with the team. In May 2018, Ogwumike returned to The Sun and played her first WNBA game in two years, after playing 17 minutes. She scored 9 points in the starting lineup in a 101-65 victory over the Las Aces. Vegas.

Ogwumike has also performed with foreign artistsclubs. She was in Europe for the 2014-2015 European season and played for Italian Famila Schio. In 2016, she signed with WCBA’s Henan Yichuan for the 2016-2017 Chinese season. She also played with the USA Basketball U18 team.

His deal with ESPN

In May 2018, Chiney signed a multi-year contract with ESPN to become a full-time sports analyst. While recovering from her first injury in 2016, to keep busy, Chiney reached out to the network and replaced the Son and Hers, which included Michael Smith and Jemele Hill at the time.

When she was injured again a year later, they contacted the network for the second time and allowed her to serve as an analyst for about a dozen women’s college basketball games in the WNBA. So when ESPN launched its SportsCenter Africa in 2017, the Nigerian-American star seemed like the perfect fit to host the show.

Also Read: Candace Parker Husband, Divorce, Daughter, Brother, Height, Salary

Chiney Ogwumike’s Family and Boyfriend

Chiney is one of four daughters born to Nigerian parents, Ify and Peter Ogwumike. Her mother is a longtime school administrator, while her father is a technology consultant and divides his time between Nigeria and Houston.

Her older sister, Nneka, is also a basketball player with the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association. Her two younger sisters are Chisom and Erinma.

Like her older sister, Chiney is quite secretive about her private life and relationships. There is no data available on her past or present relationships, she is probably more focused on her career right now.

Height and other measurements

The handsome Nigerian-American player stands at a height of 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 79 kg. His other measurements are unknown. She has black hair and dark brown eyes.