Wanda Olude has called Maryland, Nigeria and Manitoba home, and she was recruited by the likes of UMass, Nebraska, Boston College, Auburn and Minnesota. But Miss Basketball Manitoba now wears the cherry and silver, and she is a force to be reckoned with.
As a freshman, Olude is already known for her great strength. Aaron Day, UNM strength and conditioning trainer, said Olude has already broken school records in the weight room.
Day, who is in his fifth year as a UNM strength trainer, said Olude is naturally the strongest female athlete he's ever worked with.
"She's not the strongest on the team yet," he said. "But she will be soon, which as a freshman is really impressive."
At 6-foot-1-inch, Olude bench presses 160 pounds and squats 225 pounds. What's more impressive is her 160-pound power clean, which is the most a female UNM player has ever accomplished.
But Day said he has only begun to build Olude to her full potential because the team members are limited to what they can do in the weight room during the season.
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"I see her benching 200 pounds, and I see her squatting 300 pounds," Day said. "She thinks I'm crazy and she says 'Who do you think I am?' But she thought I was crazy when I put 160 pounds on the bench press - and then she lifted it."
But Olude said most of her power comes naturally. She had never worked in a weight room before meeting Day.
"I did a little bit before I got here, just so my body wouldn't be in shock," she said. "But I didn't lift at all in high school. It's just my natural build. I've always been bigger and stronger than the majority of the kids I've had to play."
UNM head coach Don Flanagan said Olude has experienced a big transition from high school to college basketball. In high school, Olude averaged 17 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks per game. She is now averaging 1.9 points per game, 1.6 rebounds and zero blocks. Saturday against Air Force, Olude had one basket and a steal.
Despite the decrease in statistics, Olude said she feels her skills have improved tremendously because Flanagan demands each of the Lobos becomes well-rounded players.
"It's totally different than in high school," said Olude. "In high school, if I was outside the paint, that was a problem. If you're a 6-foot post, and you're bigger than most kids, you don't have to step out of the key."
Flanagan said Olude has the potential to be an outstanding player.
"She's stronger than anyone on the team," he said. "She could contribute a lot of power on the interior, and she's a mismatch strength-wise with anyone else on the floor."
Olude hasn't declared a major yet, but she knows that she wants a career that allows her to travel, which is fitting because she has lived all over the world. Her parents and extended family are from Nigeria.
"The story goes, I was born in Maryland and my family moved to Nigeria for three years," she said. "My dad wanted to go to graphic design school and the only place he could get in was in Canada. We were supposed to go back to Nigeria, but we never got around to it."
It has been a long road to the North American desert, and Olude has been presented with many opportunities, but she is confident she made the right choice joining the UNM basketball program.
"It's kind of a hidden program," she said. "If you step into an established program, it's a little harder to contribute. But if you step into a program that's trying to become established, you can help out the team a lot, and you can grow with the team."
