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Rena Wakama, head coach of Nigeria’s national women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, has been appointed as the new head coach of Hive BC, a club competing in the Unrivaled Basketball League in the United States.
The announcement was made in a league statement on Thursday.
The Unrivaled League, founded in 2023, is a women’s three-on-three basketball competition created to provide an alternative platform during the off-season of the US Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The league’s first season took place in early 2025, with its second season scheduled for 2026.
Wakama will lead Hive BC in their debut season when the next campaign begins.
Earlier this year, in March, the 33-year-old coach joined the Chicago Sky of the WNBA as an assistant coach, continuing her impressive rise in basketball management.
Wakama made history in 2023 when she became the first female head coach of D’Tigress and guided the team to victory at the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket, becoming the first woman to win the title as a head coach. She repeated the feat in August 2024 by leading Nigeria to a fifth consecutive Afrobasket crown.
Her remarkable achievements continued at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she was named the tournament’s best coach after steering D’Tigress to the quarter-finals — the first time any African basketball team, male or female, had reached that stage.
It is common in basketball for coaches to manage both national teams and clubs. For instance, Mike Brown served as an associate coach with the Golden State Warriors while coaching Nigeria’s men’s team, D’Tigers, at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
Wakama’s new role with Hive BC is expected to further boost her profile as one of Africa’s most successful and inspiring basketball coaches.
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