On Tuesday, former Notre Dame national champion and current Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30: Sports List.
“Arike Ogunbowale hit two of college basketball’s most iconic shots ever while at Notre Dame in 2018 and has gone on to become a WNBA scoring champion in 2020, and a two-time All-Star,” Forbes.com reads. “She is a founding member of LeBron James’ ‘More Than a Vote’ initiative and is an investor in media startup Just Women’s Sports.”
Since being chosen as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft, Ogunbowale has played in 117 games for the Wings. Over four seasons, the 5-8 guard has posted 19.8 points per game and has a lifetime 35.5 percent success rate from behind the arc. Her 19.7 points per contest in 2022 were tied for the third-best mark in the league with former Irish All-American and Phoenix Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Off the court, as the Forbes anecdote mentions, Ogunbowale helped start “More Than A Vote.” The organization encourages African Americans across the country to register to vote and cast a ballot on Election Day.
Just Women’s Sports is a hub for all things women’s athletics, including both professional and collegiate sports with primary focuses on the NWSL, WNBA and NCAA basketball. The multi-media website has articles, videos, podcasts and more to increase attention and fandom for female athletes and their teams.
While in South Bend, Ogunbowale made the two aforementioned legendary three-pointers against UConn in the 2018 Final Four and Mississippi State in the 2018 National Championship. She was named the tournament’s MVP that season and was the ACC Athlete of the Year.
New York Liberty guard and former Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu is the only other current WNBA player on the 30 Under 30 list. Other members of the prestigious group include Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and Sports Illustrated host Ashley Nicole Moss.