Ohemaa Nyanin named WNBA Golden State general manager

06/05/2024 21:07

Nyanin is the first of many front office hirings ahead of WNBA Golden State's 2025 entry into the league

Today, WNBA Golden State named Ohemaa Nyanin their general manager. Previously to Golden State, Nyanin had spent five years with the New York Liberty, most recently as assistant GM. Nyanin was close with WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu while working for the Liberty, and people across the Liberty organization love her for her leadership skills and bright personality, too.

"The 'Golden State' got brighter today," said Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb. "Go shine, O."

Prior to working in the WNBA, Nyanin played basketball at American University. Hailing from Accra, Ghana, Nyanin played three seasons with the Eagles, walking onto the team her freshman year after being accepted to the university's School of International Services. Nyanin skipped her junior season to run for Student Government President. In her senior year, Nyanin returned to the court and started in 31 of the 32 games AU played that season. After graduating from AU in 2010, she returned to serve as their Head of Basketball Operations through 2011.

In Golden State, like she did in New York and at American University, Nyanin will combine her experience in both on-court and off-court leadership to make decisions for the still-unnamed Golden State WNBA team, which will enter the league in 2025. Nyanin will be constructing the roster from scratch, scouting NCAA players, overseas players, and, if there's an expansion draft, players already on other WNBA teams. It's an intense job, and Nyanin is ready for it.

"She's had to kind of not adapt but figure out in a way how to communicate effectively with high level athletes at different stages of their careers, from teen years into adulthood," Kolb said in a 2023 interview with The Next. "And that in it of itself is a real skill, and so that's really what drew me to her."