Olivia Nelson-Ododa Bio
Olivia Nelson-Ododa (born August 17, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). A 6 ft 5 in center, she has built her career on shot-blocking, rebounding, and efficient interior scoring after a standout run with the UConn Huskies. Since entering the WNBA in 2022, she has also played in Australia and China, sharpening her game in competitive international leagues.
Early Life and Background
Olivia Nelson-Ododa was born on August 17, 2000, in Lansing, Michigan, and later grew up in Winder, Georgia, where she attended Winder-Barrow High School. Basketball ran in the family, with her father having played for Huntington University and the Kenyan national team, which gave her an early appreciation for the sport’s discipline and global reach.
As a sophomore at Winder-Barrow, Nelson-Ododa was named Athens Banner-Herald Co-Player of the Year after averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds per game, leading her team to the Class 6A state final. Her junior year brought 16.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game before a season-ending knee injury cut it short. She returned as a senior to post 19 points, 16 rebounds, and six blocks per game, earning Miss Georgia Basketball honors and a selection to the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Path to Basketball
Nelson-Ododa was rated a five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2018 class by ESPN. On November 15, 2017, she committed to UConn over offers from Duke, South Carolina, Florida State, and Georgia, choosing a program long known for developing elite post players.
At Winder-Barrow she also represented the United States in international age-group competitions, winning a bronze medal at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Spain, a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship in Mexico, and a gold medal in 3×3 basketball at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru. She was also the youngest player on the United States team that won gold at the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico, giving her a broad competitive base before her college career began.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa Career
Early Career at UConn (2018–2022)
As a freshman at UConn in 2018–19, Nelson-Ododa mostly came off the bench, averaging 4.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. Her breakout came on December 22, 2019, when she recorded a career-high 27 points, 15 rebounds, and seven blocks in a 97–53 win against Oklahoma, announcing herself as a force in the paint.
As a sophomore she earned Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) honors, averaging 10.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and an AAC-best 3.1 blocks per game, while becoming the fifth player in UConn history to record more than 100 blocks in a season. In her junior campaign, she averaged 12 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.8 blocks per game, earning Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Second-Team All-Big East recognition.
WNBA Breakthrough (2022–Present)
On April 11, 2022, Olivia Nelson-Ododa was selected in the second round, 19th overall, by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2022 WNBA Draft, beginning her professional career. Her rookie season in Los Angeles offered a steep learning curve as she adjusted to the speed and physicality of the WNBA.
On January 13, 2023, she was traded to the Connecticut Sun, where she has since settled into a steadier role in the frontcourt. Wearing jersey number 10, she has continued to provide interior defense, rebounding, and screening for a Sun team that has remained a perennial playoff contender.
Driving Style and Strengths
Nelson-Ododa is best known for her rim protection, with her length, timing, and vertical pop making her a reliable shot-blocking presence. She pairs that with active rebounding on both ends and a developing face-up game that lets her finish around the rim and step out for mid-range jumpers, traits that fit a modern WNBA center.
Notable Events and Milestones
Her career-high 27-point, 15-rebound, seven-block performance against Oklahoma in 2019 stands as her signature college moment, and her place among UConn’s 100-block club cements her defensive legacy in Storrs. Being named Miss Georgia Basketball and a McDonald’s All-American in 2018 marked her arrival as a nationally recognized prospect.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa Career Highlights
Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s career wins and recognitions span USA Basketball age-group titles, conference honors at UConn, and high school accolades that previewed her college impact. Her trophy case reflects a player who contributed to winning teams at every level of the sport.
USA Basketball and International Highlights
Nelson-Ododa won a bronze medal with the United States at the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Spain, averaging a team-high 12 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. She added a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship in Mexico, a gold medal in 3×3 basketball at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru, and another gold at the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico, where she was the youngest player on the roster.
Other Performances
At the high school level, she led Winder-Barrow to the Class 6A state final as a sophomore and was twice named to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Class 6A All-State team, capping her prep career with Miss Georgia Basketball honors.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa Family
Family Background and Basketball Lineage
Olivia Nelson-Ododa comes from a deeply basketball-oriented family. Her father played college basketball at Huntington University and represented the Kenyan national team, an unusual international path that gave Olivia early insight into global styles of the game. Her older brother, Alonzo, played professionally and was engaged to WNBA player Dearica Hamby, while her younger brother, Isaiah, plays college basketball at Tennessee Tech, keeping the family’s basketball tradition alive across generations.
Personal Life
Outside of basketball, Nelson-Ododa has spent her professional career balancing the WNBA schedule with overseas stints in Australia and China. She played with the Melbourne Boomers in the 2022–23 WNBL season, the Guangdong Vermilion Birds of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association in 2023–24, the Shanxi Flame of the WCBA in 2024–25, and the Wuhan Shengfan of the WCBA in 2025–26, broadening her game and her perspective on professional basketball abroad.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 season marked Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s third full year with the Connecticut Sun, where she continued to grow as a rotation center behind a deep frontcourt. With the Sun pushing for a top playoff seed in the WNBA, she provided consistent rebounding, screen-setting, and interior defense across the regular season, helping to anchor second-unit lineups and giving Connecticut reliable minutes whenever foul trouble hit the starters.
Her role was complemented by another winter of overseas work, as she signed with the Shanxi Flame of the WCBA for the 2024–25 season before returning to the Sun for the summer slate. That rhythm of international play has clearly sharpened her conditioning and her comfort against varied styles of post play, and her per-game production trended upward as the season progressed.
Looking ahead, Nelson-Ododa’s blend of size, shot-blocking instincts, and continued development on the offensive end positions her as a long-term piece of the Sun’s core. With a full 2025–26 overseas campaign ahead in Wuhan and a Connecticut core built to contend, the coming year represents a real opportunity for her to expand her role and contribute to a deep playoff run.