Nigerian American basketball player

Joanne Aluka (born April 26, 1979 in Jackson, Mississippi, United States) is a Nigerian American women's basketball player.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Career
• 3 Achievement
• 4 References

Early life and education

She was born in Mississippi in the United States and acquired Nigerian citizenship through her parents. She attended Hephzibah High School in the U.S. state of Georgia. She was a graduate of Middle Tennessee State with a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science in 2001 and went further to complete her Master’s degree in Human Performance with a concentration in Sports Management in 2003. She married Fred White and they have twins: Daniel and Gabrielle.

Career

Aluka competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Greece with the Nigeria women's national basketball team. After the Olympics, Aluka joined and played for a while in the Dallas Fury in the National Women’s Basketball League. Aluka experienced her first coaching job at FIU where her responsibilities included *isting with recruiting, on-floor game and practice coaching as well as promotions and camps. Before she went into coaching, she successfully built her career and played at Middle Tennessee State (1997-2002).

Achievement

• Scoring over 1,000 career points
• Earned Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year honors during her four-year career
• Team captain that helped the Blue Raiders capture an Ohio Valley Tournament Championship and a bid to the NCAA Tournament during her career
• Played professionally in Portugal and helped her team to the National Cup Championship game in 2004

References