Rena Wakama Appointed Nigeria Women’s Basketball Team Head Coach

Nigeria Basketball Federation has announced the appointment of Rena Wakama as the new Head Coach of Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress.

Wakama, a former Nigerian National team player, and currently an Assistant Coach at Stony Brooks University, has penned a two year contract.

Wakama was a 4 year letterman at the University of Western Carolina and played professional basketball in the United Kingdom, in addition to playing for the Senior Nigerian National Team. 

D’Tigress are the reigning African champion, having secured the coveted title in the continent in 2017, 2019 and 2021. A team growing in leaps and bounds reached the quarter-final stage of the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Spain causing upsets at the global showpiece. This means the new coach will be tasked to continue from where her predecessor, Otis Hughley, who oversaw a glorious phase of D’Tigres left off.

D’Tigress have been without a head coach since Hughley resigned from his role with the five-time Afrobasket champions in 2022.

With the African Cup scheduled in Rwanda in July, Wakama will immediately focus on successfully defending the title.