Against all odds, 21-year-old Kenyan basketball prodigy Madina Okot has etched her name into history as the highest-drafted Kenyan player in WNBA history, earning a first-round 13th overall selection by the Atlanta Dream in the April 13 draft held in New York. What makes her fairytale ascent even more extraordinary is that she has reached the pinnacle of women’s professional basketball just six years after picking up a basketball for the very first time.
Okot’s journey to the WNBA started in humble surroundings, in the western Kenyan town of Mumias, where she grew up as the fifth of eight children. She first found athletic success on the volleyball court at Kakamega County’s Bishop Sulumeti High School, before a life-changing opportunity in 2020 pulled her toward basketball: an invitation to join Kaya Tiwi Secondary, a renowned coastal basketball academy near Mombasa that has spawned many of Kenya’s top basketball talents. “I was almost scared to try basketball at first,” Okot shared in an interview with BBC Sport Africa. “But the second I started playing, I fell in love with the game instantly.”
Her raw, unpolished talent quickly caught the attention of national selectors, and she worked her way up through Kenya’s youth national team ranks. A breakout performance at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games 3×3 basketball tournament put her on the radar of U.S. college scouts, opening the door for a move stateside. But that next step would test Okot’s mental resilience like never before: she faced four consecutive visa rejections when applying to study and play at Troy University in Alabama and later Eastern Michigan University, a stretch that left her on the brink of walking away from her dream.
“It was unbelievably tough. There were so many moments I felt like just giving up,” Okot recalled. “After the second, third, and fourth rejections, I cried so hard. I walked out of the interview with a security guard escorting me to my taxi, and I just felt completely defeated.” It was unwavering support from her family and her own quiet determination that kept her going. In a moment that feels straight out of a Hollywood script, Okot finally received her visa approval on her birthday in August 2024. “That was without a doubt the best birthday gift I have ever received,” she said, grinning. “I’m so grateful to my parents and everyone who kept telling me to keep trying.”
Fifth time lucky, Okot finally made it to the U.S., first joining Mississippi State for the 2024-25 season before transferring to the University of South Carolina last April. This past collegiate season, she dominated the paint, leading her conference in rebounds with an average of 10.6 per game, and was a key anchor for the Gamecocks as they fought their way to the NCAA national championship final in Phoenix earlier this month, where they fell to UCLA in front of nearly 16,000 fans.
Now, Okot is preparing to make her professional debut with the Atlanta Dream when the new WNBA season tips off on May 8, where she will share the court with star players including two-time All-Star Angel Reese. “I’ve watched Angel play since I was in high school,” Okot said. “I know she’ll be like a big sister to me, and I can’t wait to learn everything from her. My main goal right now is just to keep growing my game and absorb as much as I can from the more experienced players on the team.” She will also have the support of another African player on the roster: Malian center Sika Kone, who is entering her fourth WNBA season.
Standing 6-foot-6, Okot brings elite size, physicality, and strong defensive instincts to the professional league, and she is under no illusions about the steep learning curve that comes with competing at the sport’s highest level. But beyond her on-court contributions, Okot is acutely aware of the role she can play as a trailblazer for young female athletes across the African continent. “It’s such a huge honor to get to represent everyone back home,” she said. “I just want to show young African women that we belong on every single stage. If you put in the work and keep believing, your dream can come true.”
Okot is the third Kenyan player ever to be drafted into the WNBA, following Josephine Owino’s third-round selection in 2009 and Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s second-round pick in 2022, making her the highest-ranked draft pick from the East African nation to date. Off the court, the soft-spoken 21-year-old still holds tight to her Kenyan roots: she loves the traditional East African staple ugali, favors the colors pink and white, listens to gospel music, and still can’t quite believe her journey from a small-town volleyball player to a WNBA first-round pick.
Her breakthrough comes at a time of global growth for women’s sport, but barriers around access to resources and opportunities still remain disproportionately high for female athletes in Africa. For Okot, that makes her story even more important as a message of hope for young girls starting out with limited resources. “You don’t need perfect facilities to start chasing your dream,” she said. “Just stay focused and never stop chasing. I want to be the kind of player that young girls look at and think, ‘If she can do it, I can too.’ Opportunities come when you put in the work — there’s always someone watching, and that’s how dreams come true.”