Chiney Ogwumike

Classroom

Ogwumike is an international relations major at Stanford, and has earned multiple honors for her academic success. This February, Ogwumike was named the 2014 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), as well as to the Capital One Academic All-America Team for the second straight year. In March, she was named the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the third Stanford player to earn the honor, joining Jayne Appel (2010) and Kayla Pedersen (2011). In 2013, Ogwumike was named to the Capital Once Academic All-America Team for the first time, and at the conference level has been named Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention (2013) and to the Second Team (2012). In her final academic quarter at Stanford this winter, Ogwumike owns a cumulative grade-point average of 3.46.

Character

Ogwumike has been voted a team captain of the Stanford women’s basketball team for two years running (2012-13) and has been hailed as a great ambassador for Stanford University. Her ebullient personality and connection with fans has made her a popular follow on Twitter and Instagram. At Stanford, Ogwumike has been a big supporter of numerous Cardinal athletic teams, often spotted in the stands cheering on her fellow student-athletes.

Community

Ogwumike undertook one of her biggest projects during the spring of 2013, traveling to Nigeria where she spent time working with “Access To Success.” With the group, Ogwumike helped conduct basketball camps, participated in after-school programs, and helped in efforts to raise $30,000 to build a basketball court for underprivileged youth in Nigeria. Domestically, Ogwumike has visited Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital with her teammates, visiting patients, and has spoken at elementary schools in the Palo Alto area, encouraging the local youth to live healthy, active lifestyles.

Competition

Chiney Ogwumike has firmly established herself as one of the frontrunners for national player of the year, leading Stanford to its 14th straight Pac-12 regular season title and to what will surely be another NCAA Tournament appearance or the Cardinal this March. Through March 9, Ogwumike has scored at least 30 points in 14 games this season and is the only player in the nation to rank in the NCAA top 10 in scoring (26.8 ppg - third), rebounding (12.3 rpg – seventh), field-goal percentage (61.0 – third) and double-doubles (24 – fifth). Ogwumike’s record-breaking season of 2013-14 has so far featured her sweeping the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards for the second straight year, and be named Pac-12 Player of the Week a record nine times. She has broken numerous records this season, as well, most notably becoming the Pac-12’s all-time leading rebounder on Jan. 3 when she passed Kayla Pedersen’s mark of 1,266, and on March 8 she tied Candice Wiggins as the Pac-12’s all-time leader scorer, as the two are equal with 2.629 career points. On Dec. 16 against New Mexico, Ogwumike became just the fifth Cardinal player to reach both the 2,000-point and 1,000-rebound marks for her career, joining older sister Nnemkadi Ogwumike (2008-12), Jayne Appel (2006-10), Nicole Powell (2000-04) and Val Whiting (1989-93).