The next slam-dunk millionaire

It is likely that Kenyans will begin to pay attention to the WNBA, the National Basketball Association’s women’s counterpart, since Josephine Achieng Owino is now playing in the US league that opened its season Saturday.

The 24-year-old known as JO made sports history on April 9 when she became the first Kenyan drafted into the most lucrative female basketball league in the world when she was selected in the third round of the 2009 WNBA draft by the Washington Mystics. She was the 28th player selected overall in the draft.

“Never in a million years did I think this would happen to me,” she said in a telephone interview from the United States. “I am very excited and looking forward to playing basketball in the WNBA.”

Her interest in the game dates back less than a decade to when she first picked up a basketball at Mombasa High School.

“It has not sunk in yet what my being the first Kenyan to join the WNBA means, but I am happy to represent my country here, and I will continue to do so with pride and determination,” she told Lifestyle. Kenya has yet to have a male pro player in the NBA.

Fourth player

Owino is the fourth player from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Women’s Basketball Players to be drafted into the WNBA since 1997.

“I started playing basketball in Form Two because the first year in high school was all about being introduced to the game with things like dribbling, lay-ups and fouls. It was then that I took it seriously, and it paid off immediately,” she said. “My father died when I was in form one and it was a big blow because we were very close.”

She acknowledged her debt to Nation sports writer Philip Onyango who introduced her to the game and coached her.

Ronnie Owino, former KCB Lioness and national team coach, selected JO for the national team on which she represented Kenya in the East and Central African Basketball championships in Tanzania where she was voted most valuable player. The same year she was also selected to play for Kenya Ports Authority as a Form Three student.

“I was with KPA for a year and then started playing for the Kenya Commercial Bank in Form Four where I played for quite some time,” said the 6-foot-3-inch Owino who plays centre.

Scholarship

But she returned to KPA after they promised her a job, and it was going well for her when Philip Onyango contacted a basketball coach in the United States who was impressed with Owino’s playing. She landed a scholarship to Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.

“I came to the US in 2004, and the first year I was a red shirt which meant I could not play because I was getting acquainted to the US style of basketball which is very different from how we play here, but since I knew the basics, it was not that hard,” she recalled.

She started playing in 2006, had an immediate impact on the game, and the accolades began to flow.

“When I received my first MVP award I was very excited, and that just gave me the fuel to go for more success for my team and myself,” she said. “I am happy that happened, and now that I am with the Mystics I will continue to help them go further.”

WNBA interest in Owino began last December when talent scouts and coaches started enquiring about her and attended several of her games.

“It was after this that my coach Mark Campbell sent tapes of me playing to the WNBA for evaluation, and they must have been impressed because look at where I am now,” she said.