WNBA: Kenya’s Madina Okot ready for Atlanta Dream after draft pick

Okot’s journey began far from the spotlight as the fifth of eight children in her hometown of Mumias in western Kenya.

She initially excelled in volleyball at Bishop Sulumeti High School in Kakamega County before being persuaded to move across the country in 2020 to join Kaya Tiwi Secondary, a school on the east coast near Mombasa which has produced some of Kenyan basketball’s biggest names.

“I was almost scared to try basketball,” she recalled.

“But when I started playing I fell in love with the game so quickly.”

Her raw talent propelled her through Kenya’s national youth teams, with college sides in the United States alerted to her potential after she featured in the 3×3 basketball tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

However, getting into the USA tested her resilience, as Okot faced no fewer than four visa rejections in her bids to join Troy University in Alabama and then Eastern Michigan University.

“It was tough. I felt like giving up several times,” Okot revealed.

“The second, third and fourth one I cried so hard.

“I had a security guard taking me to my [taxi]. I felt so bad.”

Having questioned whether to continue a process she described as “so heart-breaking, so discouraging”, Okot believes her parents’ prayers and her own resolve ultimately carried her through.

Relief finally came on a day in August 2024 that was already marked for celebration.

“The day that I got my visa was my birthday,” she said with a broad smile across her face.

“That was my best birthday gift I’ve ever got.

“I’m so grateful to my mum and my dad and everybody else that kept convincing me to keep trying.”