Michaela Onyenwere will return to her Alma mater as an assistant coach for UCLA women’s basketball team, the team announced Tuesday morning.
The former Bruin forward played in Westwood from 2017 to 2021 before she was selected sixth overall in the 2021 WNBA Draft.
“What an honor it is to welcome Mic (Onyenwere) back to campus,” said coach Cori Close in a statement. “I’m excited to bring her on and use her incredible basketball mind. Our student-athletes have an amazing opportunity to learn a lot from a vet in the W – many of our players aspire to keep playing after they graduate here, so they can take full advantage of picking the mind of a seasoned pro.”
Onyenwere led the Bruins in scoring for three consecutive seasons and ranks fourth on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,888 career points.
She averaged 19.1 points her senior year – the second most in the Pac-12 – and started in every single game that season, ending her UCLA career with 123 games played.
Onyenwere was the program’s first two-time AP All-American, having earned third team honors in 2020 and 2021, before she went on to play in the WNBA.
She played two seasons with the New York Liberty – where she was unanimously named the 2021 WNBA Rookie of the Year – before she was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in 2023 and then to the Chicago Sky in 2024.
Onyenwere averaged 5.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists while playing with the Sky this summer.
“I’m extremely honored to be back in Westwood as an assistant coach with the Bruins,” Onyenwere said in a statement. “To represent this program and university again fills my heart with joy – I’m so excited to be able to work with our student-athletes from this side of the bench.”
The Aurora, Colorado, local’s impact as a student athlete at UCLA was felt beyond the court.
Onyenwere, alongside five teammates, founded the “More Than a D.R.E.A.M.” initiative in addition to Bruins Table Talk, both of which aimed to create spaces for discussion around racial injustice where Black voices were amplified.
Onyenwere also founded UCLA’s Black Student-Athlete Alliance alongside teammate and forward Lauryn Miller along with other Black athletes.
“Being the first group that this is on the UCLA campus, that within itself is going to make an impact,” Onyenwere said at the time in September 2020. “People are going to see us, and see us as more than just athletes, and see that we are Black before athletes, and that’s super important to us.”
Onyenwere joins the Bruins coaching staff ahead of the 2025-2026 campaign. UCLA enters its second year in the Big Ten as the defending conference tournament champions and the reigning No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Fellow Aurora locals, 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year senior center Lauren Betts and freshman forward Sienna Betts, will fall under Onyenwere’s mentorship.
“I truly believe we are building something special here, and I’m fully prepared to help mentor and equip our players so we can accomplish all of our goals this year,” Onyenwere said in a statement.
