Ex-Arizona State guard Promise Amukamara on Nigeria basketball team for Paris Olympics

Before she was a professional basketball player and a two-time Olympian, Promise Amukamara was making a name for herself in another sport: track and field.

Former Arizona State women's basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne remembers the first time she came across a young Amukamara, then in her junior year at Glendale Apollo High School. It was the summer of 2010, and Promise was more known for her track exploits at the time.

Her older sister, Precious, was a star sprinter at Apollo, winning seven AIA state championships while in high school before competing at GCU. Promise followed closely after Precious, winning the 100 meters her senior year at the Division II state championships. 

They both followed in the footsteps of their mother, who was an Olympic-caliber sprinter. Christy (formerly Nwachukwu) competed on the Nigerian track and field team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. 

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Now, at 31 years old, Promise is continuing the Olympic legacy her mother started as she gears up to represent Nigeria on its women's basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It is the second time that Amukamara will compete at the Olympics after being on the team at Tokyo in 2021.

But Promise's road to the Olympics wasn't something anyone saw coming more than a decade ago, at least not in basketball.

“I knew her sisters were track stars that played basketball,” Turner Thorne told The Republic. “She was local. She was always a track star and she didn’t really play on a big club team. She was very lightly recruited because she just wasn’t out.”

Apollo came out to a team camp on ASU’s campus, Turner Thorne recalls. Promise was alongside her younger sister, Peace, a burgeoning basketball player herself. After Promise’s performance at the ASU team camp, where she caught the eye of Turner Thorne, she was invited to the school’s elite camp. 

“She did really well. I got more intrigued,” said Turner Thorne.

Turner Thorne then watched every single game that Promise played in July. 

“If this kid is this good, I don’t want to miss out on her,” Turner Thorne said, as she described those early days with Promise. “She’s in our backyard. Exceptional athlete – things you can’t coach. I followed her and just kind of fell in love with her with how hard she played, how she carried herself. Everything. And her skillset was better than I had ever thought before I started watching her. I took complete charge of her recruitment. I was so impressed and intrigued with her.”

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That fall, in 2010, Turner Thorne and ASU offered Amukamara a scholarship. Later that winter, Amukamara had a stellar senior season at Apollo, as she averaged 21.7 points, 10.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 5.3 steals per game to lead the Hawks to the 2011 4A-I Arizona State Championship. Amukamara was named the Arizona Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

The 5-8 guard played for ASU from 2011-2015, where she appeared in 131 games and averaged 7.6 points a game, 3 rebounds and 1.5 assists.

Amukamara has been playing professionally since graduating from ASU, making stops in Spain, Germany, Romania, France, Israel and most recently Russia.

Promise Amukamara's roots in Nigerian royalty

There’s an argument to be made that the Amukamaras are the most athletically gifted family in the state of Arizona. Even The New York Times did a profile in 2015 titled “More Nigerian-Americans Are Reaching Highest Levels of Sports” in which the family was featured. 

Promise’s father, Romanus, was a soccer player. Princess, the oldest, played softball at GCU. Prince, the only boy of the family and second-oldest, was a three-sport star athlete at Apollo, where he played football, basketball and ran track and field. He was The Republic’s Big Schools Football Player of the Year in 2006 before playing nine seasons in the NFL. Precious, the third-oldest, ran track at GCU. Peace, played basketball at ASU with Promise. And Passionate, the youngest, played basketball at NAU.

The family is royalty in Nigeria – Romanus’ father is the king of Awo-Omamma, a village in the Imo state of Nigeria. Romanus is the chief.

Six siblings, six collegiate athletes, six college degrees.

“It was fun. I come from a very athletic and competitive family,” Promise said. “There was a lot of competition and games going on in the household. Prince, and the rest of my older siblings, they played a huge influence on my sports career. Growing up, watching the sports they played, I just tried to follow in their footsteps. And I stuck with it.”

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For a while, Prince held the title of being the greatest athlete in the family. Prince, who was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round, played with three teams in his career in the NFL. He was apart of the team that won the Super Bowl in 2011.

But now Promise is making that claim.

“I always tease him about that – I said I’m the greatest athlete in the family now since I have two Olympics,” said Promise.

And even Prince is willing to admit it too.

“I agree with her,” Prince said. “Two-time Olympian. The thing about making it to the Olympics, you have to be great for a long period of time because it comes every four years. With me trying to help my team win a Super Bowl, every year I have a chance. But every four years – I don’t know what’s going to happen. To be healthy, to be at your best to where you can compete in the Olympics says a lot about who you are as an athlete and as a competitor. So yeah, I’d give her that crown for sure.”

Staying connected to Arizona State

While none of the family was able to attend in-person at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 due to COVID restrictions, the Amukamara’s will be in full force in Paris. The whole family will be making the trips overseas.

Promise left the country on July 1 and will be preparing with Nigeria in Germany up until July 25. The next day, she’ll be in Paris for the Olympics. In the lead up to Paris, Promise worked out at the ASU facility.

Natasha Adair, the current coach of the ASU women’s basketball team, said it’s “always a yes” when Promise asks to come work out. The two didn’t cross paths at ASU, but have been able to strike up a relationship. Promise was one of the first alums to reach out when Adair was first hired at the school.

Having an athlete like Promise in the gym goes a long way, Adair said. 

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“It’s motivational. A lot of these players aspire to play at the next level. To be able to have an alum that is doing it, when she does come back and sit down and talk to the team – or one or two individuals – about their goals, about their aspirations, who better to talk to than someone has paved the way for you? It’s always an added bonus. 

“Even in recruiting, you can say, ‘You can become an Olympian from here. You can become a pro from here.’ And know that we have had alums to be able to do that. It’s motivating for our current players. It also speaks to what the ASU experience is. It’s all encompassing. It’s not just your four years. It’s your four years, plus for life. It just checks off all the boxes and we’re super proud of her as a person, we’re proud of her accomplishments. We’re excited to cheer her on.”

In Paris, Promise will be representing more than just the country of Nigeria. 

In her words, she's "just a kid from Glendale.” She’s the pride of Apollo High. Arizona high school basketball will be on display in Paris. So too will ASU basketball.

“I’ve always held a lot of honor in representing my native country of Nigeria, but I truly would be nothing without Arizona,” Promise said.

Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, ASU and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@gannett.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@LSscribe.