Michaela Onyenwere
No. 12 – Chicago Sky | |
---|---|
Position | Forward |
League | WNBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Aurora, Colorado, U.S. | August 10, 1999
Nationality | American / Nigerian |
Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
Listed weight | 178 lb (81 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Grandview (Aurora, Colorado) |
College | UCLA (2017–2021) |
WNBA draft | 2021: 1st round, 6th overall pick |
Selected by the New York Liberty | |
Playing career | 2021–present |
Career history | |
2021–2022 | New York Liberty |
2021–2022 | Spar Girona |
2022–2023 | CB Avenida |
2023 | Phoenix Mercury |
2023–2024 | OGM Ormanspor |
2024–present | Chicago Sky |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Michaela Nne Onyenwere (/ˌoʊnjənˈwɛdɛ/; born August 10, 1999) is a Nigerian-American basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 Conference.
In high school, Onyenwere was named a McDonald's All-American in 2017. Following the 2017–18 season, Onyenwere was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.[1]
In the 2018–19 season, Onyenwere's sophomore season, she was named to the All-Pac-12 team and to the Media All-Pac-12 team, and she ranked second in the Pac-12 for offensive rebounds per game. After that season, she earned on a spot on the 2019 U.S. Pan-American Games Women's Basketball Team.[1]
In the 2019–20 season, Onyenwere was again named to the All-Pac-12 team, along with her teammate Japreece Dean.[2]
WNBA career
[edit]New York Liberty (2021-2023)
[edit]Onyenwere was drafted 6th overall in the 2021 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty .[3]
In her rookie season in 2021 Onyenwere was named 2021 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Onyenwere was the leading candidate for most of the season, winning every Rookie of the Month award to become just the fifth player in WNBA history to sweep that honor during a season. As expected the voting was not close, and Onyenwere fell just two votes shy of winning unanimously. Over the course of the season, Onyenwere's playing time and production decreased, Onyenwere was still the most productive player in the class by some margin. She averaged 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, leading all rookies in scoring and 3-pointers made (37). The last time the leading rookie scorer didn't average double figures was 2005, when Tameka Johnson put up 9.3 points per game for the Washington Mystics. The 2021 draft class was one of the weaker rookie classes in recent history.[4]
In December, 2021, she joined the Catalan team Uni Girona CB of the Spanish Liga Femenina de Baloncesto.[5][6]
Phoenix Mercury (2023-2024)
[edit]On February 11, 2023 Onyenwere was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in a four-team trade involving the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Dallas Wings, and Chicago Sky.
Chicago Sky (2024-present)
[edit]On February 6, 2024, Onyenwere was traded to the Chicago Sky alongside Brianna Turner, the 2024 No. 3 pick, a 2025 second round pick (from CHI), a 2026 first round pick, and the right to swap 2026 second round in exchange for Kahleah Copper and the rights to Morgan Bertsch.
Career statistics
[edit]GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
WNBA
[edit]Regular season
[edit]Stats current as of game on July 16, 2024
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | New York | 32 | 29 | 22.2 | .401 | .327 | .836 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 8.6 |
2022 | New York | 34 | 1 | 13.7 | .377 | .300 | .836 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 4.7 |
2023 | Phoenix | 40 | 27 | 23.8 | .404 | .315 | .759 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 8.9 |
2024 | Chicago | 18 | 2 | 10.2 | .410 | .450 | .556 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 3.6 |
Career | 4 years, 3 teams | 124 | 59 | 18.7 | .399 | .327 | .795 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 6.9 |
Playoffs
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | New York | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
2022 | New York | 3 | 0 | 7.3 | .364 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.7 |
Career | 2 years, 1 team | 4 | 0 | 7.8 | .333 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 |
College
[edit]Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017–18 | UCLA | 35 | 1 | 17.1 | 47.2 | 16.7 | 82.2 | 4.7 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 6.9 |
2018–19 | UCLA | 35 | 35 | 31.9 | 47.4 | 33.9 | 83.2 | 8.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 18.3 |
2019–20 | UCLA | 30 | 30 | 30.3 | 46.6 | 25.7 | 79.3 | 8.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 18.9 |
2020–21 | UCLA | 23 | 23 | 31.3 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 80.0 | 7.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 19.1 |
Career | 123 | 89 | 27.2 | 45.9 | 30.4 | 81.0 | 7.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 15.3 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Michaela Onyenwere - Women's Basketball Roster". UCLA Athletics. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Nguyen, Thuc Nhi (March 3, 2020). "UCLA's Michaela Onyenwere and Japreece Dean selected All-Pac-12". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Valenzuela, Sarah (15 April 2021). "Liberty select UCLA's Michaela Onyenwere No. 6 in 2021 Draft". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ^ "2021 WNBA Rookie of the Year: New York Liberty forward Michaela Onyenwere runs away with award". CBSSports.com. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ^ "Michaela Onyenwere, mejor rookie de la WNBA, se incorpora al Girona". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ Roura, Jordi (2022-01-11). "Michaela Onyenwere acabarà la temporada a l'Spar Girona". Diari de Girona (in Catalan). Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ "Michaela Onyenwere College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- 1999 births
- Living people
- 21st-century African-American sportspeople
- 21st-century African-American women
- American sportspeople of Nigerian descent
- American women's basketball players
- Basketball players at the 2019 Pan American Games
- Basketball players from Colorado
- Chicago Sky players
- Forwards (basketball)
- McDonald's High School All-Americans
- Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
- New York Liberty draft picks
- New York Liberty players
- Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in basketball
- Phoenix Mercury players
- Sportspeople from Aurora, Colorado
- UCLA Bruins women's basketball players
- United States women's national basketball team players
- 21st-century American sportswomen