Love of Medicine At the Core of Emma-Nnopu's Basketball Journey
9/6/2023 12:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Senior guard graduated with a human biology degree in three years
By Sarah Mata (TCU Athletics Communications)
Medicine has been at the forefront of every step of TCU women's basketball senior Agnes Emma-Nnopu's budding basketball journey.
It led her to Stanford, where the 5-11 guard became an NCAA Champion as a freshman in 2021. She also graduated in three years with a degree in human biology with a concentration in neuroscience and human performance.
Emma-Nnopu's scholarly ambitions partially inspired her to leave home as a high school junior. She relocated to the Australia Institute of Sport, and soon realized medicine was in her blood. Her father, Emmanuel Nnopu is a general practitioner and her mother, Catherine Emma, is a nurse.
"I went to an all-girls Catholic school and had to take a textiles class, Emma-Nnopu said. "I've always been interested in the brain and have steady hands. Seeing them work had influence on my decision."
And when Emma-Nnopu hopped in the transfer portal in April, academics influenced her signing with TCU, where she'll help usher in a new era of Horned Frog women's basketball this winter.
Emma-Nnopu has two years of eligibility remaining. She is pursuing a master's degree in biology at TCU. The academic alignment and chance to play for first-year head coach Mark Campbell made trading in cardinal for purple an easy choice.
"The opportunity attracted me," Emma-Nnopu said. "I could see the new coaching staff's vision and how I could fit into helping that. These coaches have the experience and know what it takes."
Moving is nothing new for Emma-Nnopu. She's the embodiment of a global citizen.
A Nigeria native, Emma-Nnopu and her family relocated to Ocean Grove, Victoria, Australia when she was four years old.
"My dad is a doctor," she said, "and he had other doctor friends who started that trend and were like 'oh you should come over. There's lots of opportunities.'"
Her father's career path led her to take up basketball. She tried out the sport around age-six as means of staying active and making friends in a new country.
"Once we moved to Victoria when I was eight, I started to develop in the sport, and I thought it was something I could take further than recreational," Emma-Nnopu said.
As her vision of one day becoming a doctor manifested, so did her basketball career.
Not long after enrolling at the Australia Institute of Sport, she received a call-up to Basketball Australia at age-16. She has represented her homeland internationally for the last six years.
A conversation with the pathway director for Basketball Australia put playing for national women's basketball power Stanford on her radar.
"I always saw myself at a school with good basketball, education, and location," she said. "Stanford was that."
Emma-Nnopu learned what it takes to win at the highest level in Palo Alto. She was a key reserve on Stanford's National Championship squad in 2021. Emma-Nnopu appeared in 82 games across three seasons, guiding the Cardinal to five Pac-12 Championships (three regular season, two tournament).
Her post-basketball career also took shape in northern California.
"I'm very interested in the brain, and I think there's a lot of caveats that we haven't explored yet," Emma-Nnopu said. "I want to be a part of helping find treatments specifically for neurodegenerative diseases, I've just always wanted to help people."
Professional basketball beckons.
"I'm young, I want to travel and play professional in as many countries as possible," she said.
An elite defender with long arms and a quick stroke from behind the arc, Emma-Nnopu aspires to become a WNBA Draft pick. Her chief goal is to represent Australia in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Beyond basketball, Emma-Nnopu hopes to one day return to Australia and begin her career in medicine.
"Medicine is where I want to go in the future," she said. "Me and some friends have thought about opening a clinic and following what my dad did in Australia."
Medicine has been at the forefront of every step of TCU women's basketball senior Agnes Emma-Nnopu's budding basketball journey.
It led her to Stanford, where the 5-11 guard became an NCAA Champion as a freshman in 2021. She also graduated in three years with a degree in human biology with a concentration in neuroscience and human performance.
Emma-Nnopu's scholarly ambitions partially inspired her to leave home as a high school junior. She relocated to the Australia Institute of Sport, and soon realized medicine was in her blood. Her father, Emmanuel Nnopu is a general practitioner and her mother, Catherine Emma, is a nurse.
"I went to an all-girls Catholic school and had to take a textiles class, Emma-Nnopu said. "I've always been interested in the brain and have steady hands. Seeing them work had influence on my decision."
And when Emma-Nnopu hopped in the transfer portal in April, academics influenced her signing with TCU, where she'll help usher in a new era of Horned Frog women's basketball this winter.
Emma-Nnopu has two years of eligibility remaining. She is pursuing a master's degree in biology at TCU. The academic alignment and chance to play for first-year head coach Mark Campbell made trading in cardinal for purple an easy choice.
"The opportunity attracted me," Emma-Nnopu said. "I could see the new coaching staff's vision and how I could fit into helping that. These coaches have the experience and know what it takes."
Moving is nothing new for Emma-Nnopu. She's the embodiment of a global citizen.
A Nigeria native, Emma-Nnopu and her family relocated to Ocean Grove, Victoria, Australia when she was four years old.
"My dad is a doctor," she said, "and he had other doctor friends who started that trend and were like 'oh you should come over. There's lots of opportunities.'"
Her father's career path led her to take up basketball. She tried out the sport around age-six as means of staying active and making friends in a new country.
"Once we moved to Victoria when I was eight, I started to develop in the sport, and I thought it was something I could take further than recreational," Emma-Nnopu said.
As her vision of one day becoming a doctor manifested, so did her basketball career.
Not long after enrolling at the Australia Institute of Sport, she received a call-up to Basketball Australia at age-16. She has represented her homeland internationally for the last six years.
A conversation with the pathway director for Basketball Australia put playing for national women's basketball power Stanford on her radar.
"I always saw myself at a school with good basketball, education, and location," she said. "Stanford was that."
Emma-Nnopu learned what it takes to win at the highest level in Palo Alto. She was a key reserve on Stanford's National Championship squad in 2021. Emma-Nnopu appeared in 82 games across three seasons, guiding the Cardinal to five Pac-12 Championships (three regular season, two tournament).
Her post-basketball career also took shape in northern California.
"I'm very interested in the brain, and I think there's a lot of caveats that we haven't explored yet," Emma-Nnopu said. "I want to be a part of helping find treatments specifically for neurodegenerative diseases, I've just always wanted to help people."
Professional basketball beckons.
"I'm young, I want to travel and play professional in as many countries as possible," she said.
An elite defender with long arms and a quick stroke from behind the arc, Emma-Nnopu aspires to become a WNBA Draft pick. Her chief goal is to represent Australia in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Beyond basketball, Emma-Nnopu hopes to one day return to Australia and begin her career in medicine.
"Medicine is where I want to go in the future," she said. "Me and some friends have thought about opening a clinic and following what my dad did in Australia."
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