July 08, (THEWILL) – The omission of the name of Los Angeles Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike, a former Women’s National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP), from Team USA’s roster for the upcoming Olympics some weeks ago may have turned into Nigeria’s gain.
The forward, together with her sister Chiney Ogwumike, who is also her Sparks’ teammate, have been drafted into the provisional Olympic roster for Nigeria’s Basketball national team, D’Tigress ahead of the Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Their participation in the Olympics will be extraordinary for starters as it will be the first for a pair of sisters. However, it could turn out to be even more so as they will be joining a third Ogwumike, another sister of theirs, Erica in the team that will be representing Nigeria.
All three sisters sisters have dual citizenship, American and Nigerian but strict Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA) rules that govern the eligibility of players to play for one country or the other must be adhered to.
The implication for Nneka and Chiney, who have both represented the US at an international level previously and are above the age of 17, is that they have to be formally released by the American sports authorities to feature for another country. Then, a confirmation by way of exception will be granted by the FIBA Secretary General to stamp it with official backing.
So far, they have obtained the release from the US, which implies that the FIBA stamp of authorisation will most likely happen sooner than later to make their switch of nationalities official and formal.
It is as yet unclear why Nneka’s name was left out of the official roster of eligible players to the Olympics and Team USA did not provide any rationale. The forward was earlier named as one of the eight players to the US select team. The selection meant she was paid to represent Team USA at scrimmages and exhibitions, rather than play overseas during the 2019-20 offseason.
The normal next stage was to make the roster and join the Olympic contingent only for her name to be excluded from the final list as the only WNBA MVP in league history to not play in the Olympics. This is the latest in a discouraging pattern as she also missed the team in 2016, her MVP season, and in 2012, when she was the number one overall pick of the draft.
A knee injury had kept Nneka sidelined since June 1. However, she could have made a good recovery in time for the Olympics because, as Sparks coach Derek Fisher noted was communicated to Team USA, Nneka’s recovery timeline placed her healthy and ready to compete ahead of commencement of next month’s Games.
She was looking forward to being in Team USA and possibly competing against Erica, who is in the D’Tigress team. However, her exclusion left her the option of still making it to the Olympics if she switched to Nigeria. The efforts of all three sisters could see them become worthy history-makers in Team Nigeria.
D’Tigress player Erica is the youngest of the trio, as Chiney is six years older and Nneka is eight years older. She used to play and was a star at Rice University. When her attempt at WNBA was unsuccessful in a third-round pick in the 2020 draft, she left and has since enrolled in medical school.
She continues to play and remains signed by Adidas Basketball, along with her sisters who have the chance to create a bit of Ogwumike history for Nigeria’s D’Tigress.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
