Who Is Temi Fagbenle? Everything You Need to Know About the Indiana Fever Star

Basketball was not her first love. Still, Temi Fagbenle has continued to shine in the sport. The Indiana Fever veteran, who brings a lot of experience to the young team, has been putting her wheels of fate in motion for a long time. Always having that belief and motivation to be able to achieve something big in life, here is how the citizen of three countries cemented her feet in the WNBA alongside the league’s golden rookie Caitlin Clark.

The 31-year-old hooper has quite an interesting journey to the present. Fagbenle was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Nigerian parents Buki and Tunde. Apart from her 11 siblings, she spent most of her life divided between England and the US. Her family currently lives in Ibadan, Nigeria. Before this, they relocated to London when Temi was just two years old. While Temi grew up playing and loving tennis, higher prices of personal training to become a professional in the sport were not something her parents could afford.

Hence, at the age of 14, she turned her interest to basketball. A major inkling came from her older brother Dapo who was then playing at Campbell and Bellarmine Universities. Interestingly, the 6-ft-4 forward/center wears the number 14 as an ode to the age when she began her basketball journey. After one year, she returned to the US to compete at the high school level.

She enrolled herself in the Blair Academy in New Jersey. She also earned the McDonald’s All-American High School team honor. Subsequently, she got into Harvard to complete her education as well as her desire to turn into a professional basketball player one day. However, the path of her NCAA journey was quite rocky.

Temi Fagbenle’s journey to the WNBA

The motivated hooper could not begin her journey at Harvard as the NCAA deemed her ineligible in her first year after high school. In that time, she made it into the British Team for the 2012 Summer Olympics roster. However, the team was ultimately unable to qualify. She returned to Harvard after taking the General Certificate of Secondary Examination (GCSE) and NCAA gave her two years to enroll in a college.

As a Crimson, she improved her numbers with every passing season. She earned the 2013 Ivy League Rookie of the Year as a freshman. Temi Fagbenle followed the accolade by inking her name in the 2014 First-team All-Ivy League. The hooper capped her journey at Harvard averaging 14.4 ppg and 10.4 rpg and an undergraduate degree in Anthropology.

Fagbenle transferred to the USC Trojans to improve her standing in the WNBA draft. In 2016, she became the All-PAC-12 team honoree. She achieved this by averaging a decent 13.6 points along with 8.7 rebounds per clip. Wrapping up her NCAA career with 1588 points in 119 games, she declared for the WNBA.

The Minnesota Lynx selected her in the third round of the 2016 WNBA draft as the 35th overall pick. However, she took a year-long gap to complete her master’s degree at USC in Strategic Public Relations. As a rookie next year, she only played an average of 4.2 minutes in 21 games. While she only contributed 1.2 points and 1 rebound per game, she earned the WNBA champion title that year.

After three seasons in Minnesota, the Indiana Fever signed her on a training camp contract. Eventually, the masterful center earned a spot in the final roster alongside the first overall pick and NCAA D-I’s all-time leading scorer.

Caitlin Clark, Christie Sides, and all other teammates have defined her as a positive energy that can score, rebound, and pick the 2x National Player of the Year’s passes quite impeccably. However, her amazing talent to bring smiles and motivation does not end on American soil.

The contagious positivity and the need to keep fighting

Temi Fagbenle has swept almost every accolade that a professional basketball player can in their life. So far, she has a championship title in every league she has played. In 2017, she earned the WNBA title with the Minnesota Lynx. Before returning to Indiana, she won the 2024 WBBL trophy. She has also picked up the 2024 EuroCup trophy, the 2020 Copa de la Reina champion title in Spain, and the 2021 Lega Basket Femminile title. She also coaches in the London Lion camps in the offseason.

However, what makes Temi Fagbenle more special is the fact that she wants to be a role model more than anything. According to her, she never had a role model that she could ask questions to. At least, they were not accessible. Hence, she wants to be present for the younger hoopers in England.

In her interview with the WBBL, she said, “Just to see the looks on the faces of these young girls and boys when they’re talking to me and they’re holding the trophy or the medal – just to see the looks of awe and hope really makes what I’m doing more meaningful. Whatever way I can help the next generation, I would love to do so. If I’m a role model to them, then that’s the icing on the cake.”

Temi Fagbenle has achieved a lot. But she believes that she can do a lot more. While she continues to focus on making the Indiana Fever a worthy contender for the playoffs, it will be interesting to follow how far this talented athlete goes.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.