Rena Wakama, head coach of Nigeria’s women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, has been appointed head coach of Hive BC for the 2025–26 Unrivaled Basketball League season.
Unrivaled, an eight-team women’s basketball league in the United States co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier in 2023, made its debut in January 2025 with six teams. The league confirmed Wakama’s appointment on Thursday, alongside seven other head coaches across its eight franchises.
Wakama led D’Tigress to back-to-back FIBA Women’s AfroBasket titles in 2023 and 2025 and guided the team to a historic quarter-final appearance at the Paris Olympics, the first by any African men’s or women’s team.
She will helm one of Unrivaled’s two expansion franchises, taking over Hive BC as the league prepares for its second season in January 2026.
“Rena Wakama will lead Hive BC in the team’s Unrivaled debut, following her first season as an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky. She also serves as head coach of the Nigerian Women’s National Team and made history in 2024 when D’Tigress became the first African team to reach the Olympic quarterfinals,” the league said.
Wakama, 32, became the first female coach to win a Women’s AfroBasket title in 2023 and successfully defended the title in 2025. She previously held assistant coaching roles at Tulane and Stony Brook, and began her coaching career at Manhattan College as director of basketball operations. She played collegiately at Western Carolina University.
She joins a coaching lineup that includes Noelle Quinn (Breeze BC), Andrew Wade (Laces BC), DJ Sackmann (Lunar Owls BC), Zach O’Brien (Mist BC), Roneeka Hodges (Phantom BC), defending champion coach Nola Henry (Rose BC), and Teresa Weatherspoon (Vinyl BC).
