Speaker Faculty

The 1st overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft from Stanford University, Chiney Ogwumike was the 2014 WNBA Rookie of the year and is a 2-Time WNBA All-Star (2014, 2018). As the top pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft, Chiney and her sister Nneka made history, joining Peyton and Eli Manning as the only siblings ever selected number one overall in a professional sports league. Chiney is the starting forward for the Los Angeles Sparks, and is the vice president of the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA).

In 2018, Chiney became a full-time multi-platform ESPN NBA Analyst, becoming one of the youngest national sports studio analysts and one of the only full-time professional athletes to currently hold a regular national sports media position. In her role, she makes regular appearances as an NBA studio analyst on SportsCenter, First Take, Get Up! and The Jump. Chiney originally joined ESPN in 2017 to co-anchor SportsCenter across Africa and work as a WNBA and NBA analyst in studio. As on-air talent, Chiney has worked as an analyst for ESPN and Pac-12 Network; analyst for NBATV; and co-host for studio shows such as ESPN’s First Take, Sports Nation, The Jump, and Pac-12 Network’s Sports Report.

The 6’4” forward and Cypress, Texas native of Nigerian descent graduated from Stanford University with an International Relations degree under the mentorship of Dr. Condoleezza Rice. Chiney led Stanford to three Final Fours while distinguishing herself in academics, earning multiple honors for her academic success, including being named the 2014 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year and the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Chiney and her sister Nneka have redefined the word “Nerd” through several music videos which they conceptualized and produced while at Stanford, celebrating the culture of the school in a movement entitled “Nerd Nation.”

At Stanford, Chiney was a three-time First Team All-American, two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, three- time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, four-time All-Pac 12 First Team, and finalist for multiple national Player of the Year awards each of the last three seasons. The John R. Wooden Award winner and Pac-12’s all- time leading scorer and rebounder’s 26.1 points per game, 12.1 rebounds, 60.1% field-goal percentage, and 27 double-doubles made Chiney the only player in the country to rank in the NCAA’s top 10 in each of those categories. Chiney captured a gold medal with USA Basketball at the FIBA 3×3 World Championships in August 2012 and earned a gold medal with the USA Basketball World University Games team in 2011.

Chiney is passionate about giving back and empowering the next generation. Chiney spent the spring of 2013 studying abroad in Nigeria where she successfully raised $30,000 to build a basketball court for underprivileged youth in an effort to break down barriers for girls in sports and instill confidence in the next generation. Chiney and Nneka partnered with UNICEF in 2014 to raise almost $10,000 for girls’ education and empowerment in Nigeria. Chiney has made numerous trips to Africa with NBA Africa and other nonprofits to help launch youth engagement initiatives using basketball as a tool for development, including a 2017 trip to Rwanda with nonprofit Shooting Touch to celebrate International Women’s Day.