Unrivaled name Rena Wakama 2025/26 Hive BC’s head coach 

RenBoluwatife Kehinde
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‎Unrivaled has announced that Nigeria’s women’s national basketball team head coach, Rena Wakama, will take charge of Hive BC ahead of the 2025–26 season.
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‎According to a statement released on the league’s official website, Unrivaled confirmed its full coaching lineup for the upcoming campaign, which includes Wakama among the eight he3ad coaches representing the league’s eight franchises.
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‎Unrivaled, a women’s basketball league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier in 2023, launched its inaugural season in January 2025 with six teams. The league will expand to eight teams for its second season, set to begin in January 2026.
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‎“Rena Wakama will lead Hive BC in the team’s Unrivaled debut, following her first season as an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky,” the league said.
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‎Wakama, who also continues to serve as head coach of the Nigerian Women’s National Team (D’Tigress), made history in 2024 when she guided the team to become the first African basketball team—men’s or women’s—to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games.
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‎Since she was appointed D’Tigress head coach in June 2023, Wakama has broken several barriers. She became the first female coach to win the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket later that year and went on to lead Nigeria to another AfroBasket championship in 2025.
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‎She will join a talented group of head coaches across the league, including Noelle Quinn (Breeze BC), Andrew Wade (Laces BC), DJ Sackmann (Lunar Owls BC), Zach O’Brien (Mist BC), Roneeka Hodges (Phantom BC), Nola Henry (Rose BC)—the defending champion coach—and Teresa Weatherspoon (Vinyl BC).
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‎Wakama’s impact on Nigerian basketball has been profound. Under her leadership, D’Tigress have claimed back-to-back FIBA Women’s AfroBasket titles (2023 and 2025) and reached new heights on the global stage with their historic Olympic quarterfinal appearance.