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Here is all you need to know about basketball star of Nigerian descent Arike Ogunbowale making waves in the WNBA with the Dallas Wings.
American professional basketball player Arike Ogunbowale is a name that has gathered interest.
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07:35 - 21.07.2024
Arike Ogunbowale: Nigerian-born guard leads Team WNBA to beat Team USA, wins 2024 WNBA All-Star Game MVP
Nigerian-born guard Arike Ogunbowale responds to Olympic snub as she leads Team WNBA to beat Team USA, wins 2024 WNBA All-Star Game MVP
Following her rise in the WNBA with the Dallas Wings, we take an in-depth look at her upbringing, personal life and career.
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09:30 - 23.07.2023
Arike Ogunbowale outshines Nneka Ogwumike as Dallas Wings beat Los Angeles Sparks in WNBA
Arike Ogunbowale and Nneka Ogwumike: Nigerian-born stars shine in WNBA as Dallas Wings beat Los Angeles Sparks.
Who is Arike Ogunbowale?
Arike Ogunbowale can't recall a period of her life when sports wasn't everything.
Arike, a scoring whiz, has fashioned herself an sports history of her own.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, Arike was born to Nigerian parents Yolanda and Gregory Ogunbowale.
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Ogubowale Family details
Her father was a former rugby and soccer player, her mother was a Milwaukee high school softball star, and her brother will play running back in the NFL.
Her name, Arike, means "a child you treasure, cherish, and love" in Yoruba.
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Her parent had three children and she is the youngest of them all.
Her mother Yolanda played softball at DePaul University, while her father was a member of the Nigerian military.
She is also related to basketball player Diamond Stone; her brother Dare is a running back for the Houston Texans and a former University of Wisconsin football player.
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Ogunbowale and football at an early age
From 2009 to 2012, Ogunbowale played football for four Wisconsin State High School Champions teams in Division One.
Ogunbowale played football as a striker in high school as well, but he ultimately chose to concentrate on basketball since he began to love it more.
After joining the basketball team at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in 2011, Arike helped the team win the 2015 Division 1 state championship. In the semi-final,
After that, Ogunbowale continued her basketball career at Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Divine Savior Holy Angels High School.
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Ogubowale and basketball
With Ogunbowale scoring 27.2 points a game on average, the team won the Division I championship of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association in the 2014–2015 season.
Arike scored the most points in a Wisconsin high school playoff game, with 55 points.
The semi-final match against an unbeaten squad, where she put up a record-setting 55 points skyrocketed her to notoriety.
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Ogunbowale graduated from Our Redeemer Lutheran School in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, after finishing the eighth grade.
Arike was voted the tournament MVP during her final year at Our Redeemer, where she assisted the girls' team in winning the national championship in the 2011 Tournament of Champions.
In addition to being awarded the 2015 Wisconsin Miss Basketball and ranked ninth in the world, Ogunbowale was also selected for the McDonald's High School All-America team.
Ogunbowale on the international stage
She has earned five gold medals at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, 2013 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup, 2014 Youth Olympic Games, and 2014 FIBA U17 World Cup in addition to dominating high school basketball for four years.
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Ogubowale and College Basketball
Arike was known to be a natural scorer by the time she joined the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's team in 2015.
During her rookie year at Notre Dame, Ogunbowale averaged 11.4 points per game while playing as a reserve. The next year, she was a regular starter.
As a junior, she made history by hitting a falling fadeaway three-point buzzer-beater to give the Fighting Irish women's basketball team only its second-ever national championship in the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game.
Ogunbowale made game-winning baskets in both the Fighting Irish's semifinal and championship matchups against UConn and Mississippi State during her junior year, which contributed to the team's victory in the 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
Kobe Bryant congratulated her after she made a number of clutch shots during the NCAA tournament.
She was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's female athlete of the year for all sports shortly after the 2017–18 academic year ended.
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She once more assisted Notre Dame in reaching the NCAA tournament championship game in her second and last season there.
But this time, she missed one of two free throws in the closing seconds of the game against Baylor, which resulted in the game's final 1-point difference, even though she had scored 31 points throughout the game and had averaged 22.8 points during the tournament.
She became the all-time best scorer in the 44-year history of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women's basketball team when she scored 2,340 points in four seasons while in college.
In 2018, she was recognized by the Atlantic Coast Conference as the female athlete of the year for all sports, and she once more contributed to Notre Dame's NCAA Tournament run.
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Ogunbowale in the WNBA
Ogunbowale a point guard, who attended Notre Dame for four years, was selected by the Dallas Wings with the fifth overall choice in the 2019 WNBA draft.
At 19.1 points per game on average during the 2019 season, she was third in the league for scoring.
Ogunbowale was chosen to the All-Rookie Team after scoring 20 points or more in 13 of her final 14 games, including the final 11 of the season.
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Arike became the first-ever WNBA rookie to score 35 points in several games in a season while ranking third in the league in scoring during her rookie campaign.
She became one of the youngest-ever WNBA scoring champions at the conclusion of her second season with a point average of 22.8 per game.
She scored 26 points in a victory over Team USA the next season, earning her the title of 2021 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
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Ogunbowale proposes to girlfriend, life outside basketball
With the assistance of her friends, Arike Ogunbowale recently proposed to her partner Lala Ronay in a beautiful situation.
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09:00 - 14.04.2023
WNBA Arike Ogunbowale connects with Nigerian roots at Burna Boy's concert
WNBA superstar Arike Ogunbowale attends Burna Boy's concert, connects with Nigerian roots.
One of her friends took a photo of the wedding proposal, which included a red carpet, candles, and many roses.
Outside of the WNBA, Arike participated in the 2018 season of the popular American TV program Dancing with the Stars and debuted her own clothing line in 2020.
By organizing training camps across the city, she also hopes to assist in the development of Milwaukee's future basketball stars.
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Ogunbowale Accolades
Ogunbowale's 26 points in the Team WNBA victory over the women's Olympic team, USA, earned her the title of WNBA 2021 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
She traveled to Saly, Senegal, during the offseason to serve as a coach at the 2022 NBA Academy Women's Camp.
Arike Ogunbowale won the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game MVP award again after defeating Team USA Olympic teams in the second half and tallying a WNBA All-Star Game record of 34 points and six assists.
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