Erica Erinma Ogwumike (born September 26, 1997) is a

Nigerian American Nigerian Americans ( ig, Ṇ́dị́ Naìjíríyà n'Emerịkà; ha, Yan Najeriyar asalin Amurka; yo, Àwọn ọmọ Nàìjíríà Amẹ́ríkà) are an ethnic group of Americans who are of Nigerian ancestry. The number of Nigerian immigran ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. She played college basketball for the

Rice Owls Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctio ...

. In July 2020, she announced her decision to play for the

Nigeria women's national basketball team The Nigeria women's national basketball team, also known as D'Tigeress, represents Nigeria in international women's basketball competition, and are regulated by the Nigeria Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Nigeria. Nig ...

in the Tokyo Olympics. Aside from athletics, Ogwumike is also an aspiring

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

and is currently in medical school.

High School Career

Ogwumike played High school basketball for

Cypress Woods High School Cypress Woods High School, commonly known as Cy Woods, is a secondary school located in Cypress, which is an unincorporated area of Harris County, Texas, United States, near Houston. The principal of Cypress Woods is Gary Kinninger. The schoo ...

; she holds the records for most career points for

as she scored 2,227 career points, 1,141 rebounds and 440 steals; in all 143 games, she played for the school.

College career

Ogwumike started her college career with the

Pepperdine Waves women's basketball The Pepperdine Waves women's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, United States. The school's team currently competes in the West Coast Conference. The team's last appearance in the ...

team, where she averaged 18.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in her freshman season. She transferred to

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

in 2016, where she couldn't play the 2016–17 season for the

Rice Owls women's basketball The Rice Owls women's basketball team represents Rice University in women's basketball. The school competes in Conference USA in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Owls play home basketball games at Tudor Fiel ...

team due to transfer rules. In her sophomore season in 2017, she averaged 17.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. In her junior year, she averaged 16.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists. She played her senior year as a graduate student; she averaged 19 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

Professional career

WNBA

On April 17, 2020, the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

selected Ogwumike as the 26th pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft. Later that night, she was traded to the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

. She was waived by the

alongside

Linnae Harper Linnae Harper (born January 31, 1995) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. She completed her college education at Ohio State University. She completed her high school education at Whitney M. Young High Sc ...

days after the draft.

National Team Career

Erica was called up and participated at the

10-day training camp for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games in Atlanta by the team coach Otis Hughley Jr. She participated in the basketball event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

where she averaged 1 rebound, and 1 assist.

Personal life

Ogwumike was born in Cypress, Texas. She has three older sisters who also play basketball— Nneka and Chiney of the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

, and Olivia of the Rice University Owls. She is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

References

External links

Rice Owls bioUSA Basketball profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogwumike, Erica 1997 births Living people African-American Catholics American people of Igbo descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Texas New York Liberty draft picks Nigerian women's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Nigeria People from Cypress, Texas Pepperdine Waves women's basketball players Point guards Rice Owls women's basketball players Citizens of Nigeria through descent African-American basketball players Nigerian people of African-American descent American emigrants to Nigeria 21st-century African-American sportspeople