Chinenye “Chiney” Ogwumike born March 21, 1992, is an American professional basketball player for The Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and plays power forward.
Ogwumike played in three Final Fours with Stanford University. She holds the record for most rebounds in the history of Stanford Women’s Basketball and the Pac-12 Conference, as of January 3, 2014.
In 2014, Ogwumike signed an endorsement deal with Nike soon after being drafted first overall in the WNBA. As of 2016, Ogwumike was elected Vice-President of the WNBA Players Association, and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas. In May 2018, Ogwumike signed a multi-year contract with ESPN to become a full-time in-sports analyst.
Before her enviable career began, Ogwumike started off in gymnastics. But then she became too tall, and her mom’s friend advised her mum to put her in basketball. She went to her first practice together with her sister Nneka. while Ogwumike went and hid in the bathroom, her sister Nneka made it through the whole practice.
Nneka struggled the first year she played, but every time she came home from practice, she taught Ogwumike everything she knew and Ogwumike started playing the next year.
While in high school at Cypress Fairbanks, ogwumike won the 5A State Championship in her sophomore and senior seasons. Ogwumike was named a WBCA and McDonald’s All-American. She participated in the 2010 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored 24 points, and earned MVP honors for the White team.
