Nneka Ogwumike (pronounced neck-ah oh-GWOOM-ih-kay) thought she was on her way to head coach Ann Roubique's office to finalize the design for her commemorative state championship ring. But the Cy-Fair (Cypress, Texas) senior soon discovered that the subject at hand was more than jewelry as a throng of assembled teammates cheered the news that she was named Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
"I can't even believe I won the state award," said Ogwumike, who will turn 18 on July 2. "At first, I thought that's what they were talking about. Gatorade is such a big deal. It's the nation's biggest award."
Ogwumike was officially named 2007-08 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year on Thursday during a ceremony in Cypress, Texas. The 6-foot-2 standout led her team to a 112-2 record during her three-year varsity career, carrying the squad to the state championship as a senior in one of the country's toughest classifications - Texas Class 5A.
A two-time Gatorade Texas Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Ogwumike averaged 18.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game this season. Named Miss Texas Basketball as a junior in 2007, Ogwumike is rated the nation's No. 3 player in the Class of 2008 by RISE.
As an indispensable talent on the Bobcats' state semifinalist volleyball team this past fall, Ogwumike missed the first six games of the 2007-08 basketball campaign. Upon her return, Cy-Fair (39-2) embarked on a 35-0 run. Since 2005, the program has posted a .982 winning percentage with Ogwumike in the lineup, losing only in the 2006 regional semifinals and the 2007 state title game.
Ogwumike was invited to both the 2008 McDonald's All-American and WBCA All-America games. An EA Sports All-American fist team selection and Parade All-American second team selection as a junior, Ogwumike was selected to play in last summer's USA Basketball Youth Development Festival, leading the event in points and steals while finishing second in rebounds.
Ogwumike, whose parents Peter and Ify are natives of Nigeria, has maintained a 3.86 GPA. A passionate artist and pianist, she is the senior class president and was named her school's 2007 homecoming queen. Ogwumike has raised money to assist children from Darfur and also organized a drive to raise money for the family of a Texas high school coach who died of leukemia.
Having served the school district on both the superintendent's Leadership Committee and the Balfour Leadership Conference, Ogwumike volunteers at a local middle school as an office aide and remains an active member of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church.
"She's a phenomenal athlete and she has an edge to her that I don't think anyone around here has had in a long time," said LaShawn Johnson, head coach at rival Elsik. "She's consistent day in and day out, and she has that determination to help her team win that separates the great players in the world."
Rated the nation's No. 4 prospect in the Class of 2008 by the Blue Star Basketball Report and No. 6 by HoopGurlz.com, Ogwumike has signed with Stanford..
Considering three Class 5A teams were ranked in the USA Today top 12 (Bellaire, DeSoto and Cy-Fair) when the 2007-08 postseason started, Ogwumike ran a murderous roundball gauntlet en route to winning the award. Texas is home to six of HoopGurlz.com's top 38 seniors and three of the top six juniors in the country.
Cy-Fair suffered its only two losses of the season when Ogwumike and her sophomore sister, Chiney, were playing in the state volleyball tournament.
 Photo courtesy Gatorade/Jeff Fitlow. |
Ogwumike and Cy-Fair swept four games against Dulles and Kelsey Bone, the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2009. Ogwumike averaged 26.3 points and 13 rebounds in those wins. And in the state championship win against DeSoto, Ogwumike contributed 17 points and 17 rebounds while sparking a defense that limited DeSoto to 19 percent shooting. She averaged 21.4 points and 13.3 rebounds during the 2008 postseason, winning championship MVP honors.
Ogwumike becomes the second girls' basketball player from Texas to earn national Gatorade honors, joining Shereka Wright (1999-00 Copperas Cove). Selected from more than 450,000 girls' high school basketball players nationwide, Ogwumike is now a finalist for the Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year award, to be presented at a special ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.
"Being mentioned in the group that's won this award - yeah, that's pressure," said Ogwumike. "The people who've won this are phenomenal athletes that I look at in magazines. I remember seeing (2007-08 Big East Player of the Year and 2006-07 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year) Maya Moore on TV in the audience at the ESPYs and thinking, 'Wow, I wish I could be like that.'"
The previous eight girls' basketball winners are either competing for Division I colleges or in the WNBA. That group is composed of Moore, All-Big East selection Tina Charles, Abby Waner of Duke, two-time winner Candace Parker of Tennessee, Ann Strother of the Indiana Fever, Shyra Ely of the San Antonio Silver Stars and Wright of the Seattle Storm.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program recognizes not only athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court. The award distinguishes Ogwumike as the nation's best high school girls' basketball player in 2007-08.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls' volleyball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' soccer, baseball, softball, and boys' and girls' track & field, awarding one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by RISE, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information and lists of past winners and future announcement dates, visit www.gatorade.com/playeroftheyear.
