Teiko Nishi (born January 24, 1967) is an American former women's basketball player. She played for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

each year from 1985 until 1988. In 1987, Nishi, from North

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...

, was the only

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

woman playing Division I basketball in southern California. Nishi was heavily active in the Japanese American basketball leagues in Southern California throughout her childhood, and became a starter at North Torrance High School. While at North High, Nishi led her squad to CIF playoffs in her senior year, losing to

Cheryl Miller Cheryl D. Miller (born January 3, 1964) is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster fo ...

's Riverside Poly in the playoffs. While playing AAU basketball during the off-season, Nishi was heavily recruited by major universities nationwide, finally choosing UCLA over USC. In her career at UCLA, Nishi played with

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in tho ...

, defeating the Cheryl Miller-led USC dynasty twice in their 1984-85 season. After graduating from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Nishi coached girls' basketball in South Torrance, California. Nishi is currently coaching girls' basketball in Yorba Linda, CA. Nishi is the older sister of Kikuo

KeyKool Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records, and their fifth album "V" on their newly re-formed label Visionaries Crew, In ...

Nishi of the rap group

The Visionaries Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records, and their fifth album "V" on their newly re-formed label Visionaries Crew, In ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nishi, Teiko 1967 births Living people American women's basketball coaches American sportspeople of Japanese descent American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California UCLA Bruins women's basketball players