Mfon Sunday Udoka (born June 16, 1976) is a Nigerian-American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who is an assistant coach for the

Nigeria women's national basketball team The Nigeria women's national basketball team, also known as the D'Tigress, represents Nigeria in international women's basketball competition, and are regulated by the Nigeria Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Nigeria ...

, the D'Tigress. Born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, Udoka graduated from

Benson Polytechnic High School Benson Polytechnic High School (BHS) is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. Its campus is located in the Central Eastside commercial area of Portland, Oregon, United States. Students are given a special em ...

(1994) in Portland before attending

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

in Chicago, Illinois from 1994 to 1998. She is the older sister of coach and former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

Ime Udoka Ime Sunday Udoka ( ; born August 9, 1977) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in the United States, he represented ...

1998-2003

After leaving DePaul in 1998, Udoka signed with the

Detroit Shock The Detroit Shock were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were the 2003, 2006, and 2008 WNBA champions. Debuting in 1998, the Shock were one of the league's first expansion franchises. Th ...

of the WNBA. With Detroit, she appeared in three games. Udoka left the U.S. following the 1998 season, moving to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

for the 1998–99 season. She returned to school to complete her degree in Communications in 2000, and also rehabilitated her ACL injury she suffered in the summer of 1999. In 2001, she slowly resumed her basketball career with the Birmingham Power of the

National Women's Basketball League The National Women's Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NWBL, was an organization governing professional basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The leagu ...

. Following the end of the 2001 NWBL season, Udoka again left the U.S., moving to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where she played briefly with Electra Ramat HaSharon before moving to compete with Harbin in China for the 2002 season. For the 2003 season, Udoka went back to Harbin before playing with the Chicago Blaze, again of the NWBL. In 2003, she was invited to the Houston Comets training camp and made the roster as a free agent.

2003-2004

Taking several years away from the WNBA, Udoka returned in 2003 with the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

. With the Comets, she played in 25 games and started 3 of them, averaging 3.2 points per game in 10 minutes. Udoka signed with the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

for the short remainder of the 2004 WNBA season, after competing for Nigeria in the Athens Olympics, but played in only 3 games.

2004-2007

After leaving Los Angeles, Udoka moved to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(2004), then the Athens Summer Olympics and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(2005). She played in Mersin, Turkey for the second half of the 2006 season and spent a short time with

Tarbes Gespe Bigorre Tarbes Gespe Bigorre (often called Tarbes GB or TGB) is a French women's basketball club, taking part to the professional French league for women, the LFB, and to European Cups (now EuroLeague Women). It is the most important club sport in the t ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Ligue Féminine de Basketball The Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB; ''Women's Basketball League'') is the top women's France, French professional basketball league. The LFB authorities announced that the championship is renamed La Boulangère Wonderligue (LBWL) as for the se ...

in 2007.

International competitions

Udoka led the

to the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. At the Olympics, she was second in the tournament in scoring and rebounding but Nigeria finished 11th out of 12 teams. They became the first African team to ever win a game at the Olympics. Udoka also led Nigeria at the

2006 FIBA World Championship for Women The 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women took place in Brazil from September 12 to September 23, 2006. It was co-organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and Confederação Brasileira de Basketball, the Brazilian national fed ...

, where Nigeria finished in last (16th) place. In May 2011, Udoka was named as the new Assistant Coach for the

D'Tigress as they prepare for the African Nations Cup in Mali and the All Africa Games.

Coaching

Udoka will begin her college coaching career as the women's basketball head coach at

Beacon College Beacon College is a private college in Leesburg, Florida, United States. It was founded in 1989 and designed with curriculum and support services to serve students with dyslexia, ADHD, or other specific learning disabilities. Beacon College ...

Leesburg, Florida Leesburg is a city in Lake County, Florida, Lake County, Florida, United States. As of 2020, the population had exactly 27,000 residents. Leesburg is in central Florida, between Lake Harris (Florida), Lake Harris and Lake Griffin, at the head o ...

, for the 2024-25 season.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Udoka, Mfon 1982 births Living people African Americans in Oregon African Games gold medalists for Nigeria African Games gold medalists in basketball African Games silver medalists in basketball African Games silver medalists for Nigeria American basketball players of Nigerian descent American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Portland, Oregon Benson Polytechnic High School alumni Basketball players at the 2003 All-Africa Games Medalists at the 2003 All-Africa Games Basketball players at the 2007 All-Africa Games Medalists at the 2007 All-Africa Games DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball players Detroit Shock players Forwards (basketball) Heilongjiang Dragons players Houston Comets players Los Angeles Sparks players Nigeria women's national basketball team players Nigerian expatriate basketball people in China Nigerian expatriate basketball people in France Nigerian expatriate basketball people in Israel Nigerian women's basketball coaches Nigerian women's basketball players 21st-century Nigerian sportswomen Olympic basketball players for Nigeria Tarbes Gespe Bigorre players National Women's Basketball League players American women's basketball players