Michaela Nne Onyenwere (/ˌoʊnjənˈwɛdeɪ/; born August 10, 1999) is a Nigerian-American basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Uni Girona CB of the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto. She played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 Conference.
| No. 12 – New York Liberty | |
|---|---|
| Position | Forward |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1999-08-10) August 10, 1999 (age 22) Aurora, Colorado |
| 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 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall |
| Selected by the New York Liberty | |
| Playing career | 2021–present |
| Career history | |
| 2021–present | New York Liberty |
| 2021-present | Spar Girona |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
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]
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]
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 high | ° | League leader | ||||
| 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 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 32 | 29 | 22.2 | .401 | .327 | .836 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 8.6 |
| 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 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
New York Liberty current roster | |
|---|---|
|
2021 WNBA draft | |
|---|---|
| First round | |
| Second round | |