Rena Wakama, the head coach of Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, has been honored as the Best Female Basketball Coach at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The recognition was announced via a tweet from the International Basketball Federation, highlighting her remarkable achievement. Rena Wakama, at just 32 years old, led D’Tigress to their first-ever Olympic quarterfinals with a historic 79-70 victory over Canada.
Although their Olympic journey ended with an 88-74 loss to the eventual champions, the United States, D’Tigress made history as the only African basketball team, male or female, to advance to the last 16 in the tournament. Wakama’s accolades don’t stop there.
She also became the first coach of Nigeria’s National Female Basketball Team to win the women’s Afrobasket title, a competition that began in 1966. Under her leadership, D’Tigress defeated Senegal 84-74 in the final, securing Nigeria’s position as only the second country to win the title four consecutive times.
Wakama’s accomplishments have firmly established her as a significant figure in the history of Nigerian women’s basketball.