DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Wings are stacked with talent. But maybe none more talented than their leading scorer, Arike Ogunbowale.
The shot she made at the buzzer to win the 2018 NCAA national championship for Notre Dame is a shot that will follow someone for the rest of their life. In Ogunbowale's case, it changed her life.
“A lot of people were drawn to me because obviously the shots were crazy,” Ogunbowale said when reminiscing on her Final Four and National Championship winning shots. “Basketball opened a lot of doors for me at that time."
Those same doors have unlocked the bright stage of the WNBA, which is something Ogunbowale has been destined for since she picked up a basketball at the age of 3.
“I was at a high school and this high school coach was talking to my dad because I was just playing with the boys on the side and, of course, I was killing,” she said with a smile.
“She lives for the big moments, she makes big shots and she’s always on the go,” said Dallas Wings head coach Vickie Johnson.
Those characteristics also happen to be the same ones her favorite player embodied. Ogunbowale bears Kobe and Gigi Bryant’s numbers on her sneakers to honor the man who showed so much love for her and the sport of women’s basketball.
“After I met him on the 'Ellen [DeGeneres] Show,' he was so cool and super down to earth. Like you would never even know he was a celebrity, a hall of famer and one of the greatest players to live,” she said. “The following year I was in Los Angeles training. He was there too filming his Detail episode on Kyrie. So we talked for hours and he was so open. It was really cool to build a relationship with him.”
In regards to the growth of the game, Ogunbowale told Spectrum News her thoughts on how the league’s popularity is skyrocketing.
"I think [the WNBA] is getting a lot more attention drawn to it,” she said. “The players are getting better because college ball is growing too. So there’s a lot of carryover with the players and the fans they bring in. I think it’s just getting bigger worldwide.”
As the WNBA continues to flourish, so does the play of Dallas this season. The Wings haven’t won a playoff series in the franchise’s six year history. That’s something, however, Ogunnbowale plans to help change.
“We haven’t even tapped into what we could be,” she said. “We could still be really great. I’m just excited to see how the rest of the season plays out," she said.