Women In Sports: Adaora Elonu

Ugo Chinedu

3 years ago

Nigeria’s success in basketball for the past few years has been remarkable, especially in the women’s basketball scene. Adaora Elonu has been a key part of this success at the continental and global levels.

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Born on April 2th8, 1990, in Texas, USA, Adaora Nnenna Elonu was outstanding in college basketball as she won the 2011 NCAA Championship with Texas A&M.

After college, Adaora moved abroad in 2012 to feature for the Israeli side, Hapoel Galil Elyon, before switching to Spain to play for Beroil-Ciudad de Burgos. Following the disbandment of the team, the Nigerian-American signed for another Spanish side, CB Conquero, where she won the Copa Del Reina in 2016 and was selected as the MVP for the tournament. The 2016-2017 season would see her sign for Spanish champions, CB Avenida, where she also turned out impressive with an average of 9.9 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game, winning the Super Cup in the process. Adaora returned to the United States in 2018 after signing for WNBA side, Atlanta Dream, on August 10th for a seven-day contract. After her short time with Atlanta Dream, she returned to Spain and signed for Uni Girona CB in August 2019. Following Girona’s 82-80 points win over Perfumerías Avenida in the Super Cup final, Adaora was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

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At the national team level, Adaora has been a key part of the successes the D’Tigress have witnessed since 2015. After finishing third in the 2015 FIBA Women’s Afrobasket in Cameroon, the Nigerian side has gone on to win the 2017 and 2019 editions of the tournament with Adaora as a key forward. D’Tigress return to the Olympics this summer for the first time since 2004 and the Uni Girona CB forward has expressed her excitement towards that, stating that the objective is to win as usual.

‘We don’t have any other mindset besides competing and winning, and sprinkling in some fun and enjoyment. The Olympics will be an experience that we want to take in while playing D’Tigress basketball and enjoying our hard work and commitment.’ Adaora Elonu

Adaora is the captain of the Nigerian national women’s basketball team and will be hoping to lead them to glory when hostilities commence in Tokyo this month. Sources: FIBA Wikipedia Featured Image Source: FIBA

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