Oluchi Okananwa’s season may have ended earlier than she hoped, and perhaps in a more viral way than she anticipated, but her rise as a leader has become an important story for Maryland women’s basketball.
The 5-foot-10 junior guard stepped into a larger role after several knee injuries, most notably the one to senior guard Kaylene Smikle, impacted the team’s lineup.
“Honestly, it was just a lot of confidence from of course [head coach Brenda Frese] but just the entire coaching staff,” Okananwa said on Glenn Clark Radio March 26. “I think it was like, there’s nothing I’m doing that I knew I couldn’t do, so just trying to show up for my teammates as much as I can.”
Okananwa, who averaged 17.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 2025-26, said her confidence comes long before game days.
“I get a lot of my confidence just through … the work that I put in individually,” she said. “And I just knew that if I keep grinding, if I keep being consistent and sticking to my routine, then it’s going to be beneficial for me.”
That mindset led her through a season of consistent scoring, recording 25 games with double-digit points and 13 games with 20 or more points. She scored a career-high 34 points against Indiana and added three double-doubles, including 17 points and 10 rebounds in a win against then-No. 8 Ohio State.
Okananwa’s mindset helped the team get through adversity during conference play after it lost four straight games. She said this was a meaningful stretch in her career.
“That month of February, honestly, was one of the proudest months I think I felt with this entire team,” Okananwa said. “We lost four. There were a lot of people that counted us out, but the way we were able to lean on each other genuinely and rally together to get some really tough road wins, I’m just so proud.”
Okananwa’s relationship with Frese also drew attention this season, particularly with a viral sideline moment during Maryland’s season-ending loss to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament that showed their trust and communication. For Okananwa, this dynamic is helpful.
Okananwa said that “was not the first time that [Frese] and I had an interaction like this during a game. … I remember after that happened she was like, ‘Sorry about that.’ I was like, ‘Don’t be because I needed it,’ and because that’s exactly what I wanted. I think for so long she had been hearing me say that I wanted to be coached hard and needing to be coached hard in order to get to where I wanted to get to.”
Okananwa embraces tough coaching as part of her development and learning.
“If you want to get better in it, you kind of have to sacrifice your ego,” she said. “… Constructive criticism is really important if you want to get better at your craft.”
Okananwa said this mentality came most likely from her upbringing with her parents Anthony and Patience.
“I would definitely say just growing up with my Nigerian background, in a house of two immigrant parents, there was a lot of demanding of excellence,” she said. “I love pressure. I think pressure is a privilege.”
The viral moment between Okananwa and Frese spread quickly online, drawing attention from other athletes and even non-athletes. At first, Okananwa said she didn’t understand the attention it was getting.
“I was like, ‘Wait, why is it blowing up?’ I was so confused. I was like, ‘Wait, what? She’s just talking to me,'” Okananwa said.
However, reading the comments under the viral video changed Okananwa’s perspective.
“Each one of them just warmed my heart completely,” she said. “It really went to show just how much people need to hear, I believe in you.”
For more from Okananwa, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics