High School and Personal Life
Nnamani was born in Bloomington, Illinois, and attended University High School in Normal, Illinois, where she also played basketball. During her time at University High School she won back to back state championships in 1999 and 2000. She has a younger sister, Njideka, who played volleyball alongside her at Stanford University. Nnamani also has two younger brothers, Nnaemeka and Ikechi. Nnaemeka ran track and field at Illinois State University, competing in the long and triple jump. The youngest, Ikechi, is a track and field standout who attended Rice University for two years. In May 2011, Ikechi transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. He is now competing for the Quakers. He won the 2009 Illinois High School Association state championship in the high jump. Her parents speak the Igbo language.
Nnamani was considered the top high school recruit for her class, as she was recruited by major universities in 49 of the 50 U.S. States and won the Gatorade National Player of the Year award as a senior in high school.
She is closely related to senate president Ken Nnamani of Nigeria. Her father, Chika Nnamani, is former Assistant Vice President and Director of Housing at Illinois State University.
Nnamani's family is originally from Nigeria, and moved to America before she was born, in pursuit of better educational opportunities. Her last name translates to one who knows the land in the Igbo language.
In 2009 Nnamani signed a contract to play with VK Prostějov for her 2010 professional season. In the same year, she signed a contract extension with Nike.
On August 25, 2012 she married former Stanford football player, Mike Silva. Silva graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Economics. Silva also completed a master's degree in Engineering at Stanford and a master's in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is currently a venture capitalist.
Read more about this topic: Ogonna Nnamani
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