Valkyries' GM Ohemaa Nyanin welcomes the chance to explore the unknown

Three months into the job, Nyanin faces a massive challenge. The WNBA still hasn’t set a date for the expansion draft other than saying it will be sometime in December. She doesn’t know where the Valkyries will pick in the college draft or what the free-agency timeline looks like.

Nyanin has made one hire, vice president of basketball operations Vanja Cernivec. She will bring in a coach next. The Valkyries have very little runway and even less blueprint, with the most recent expansion team coming in 2008 at a very different time for the league.

Those around Nyanin are confident she’s the right person to lead a new team through uncertainty and beyond. She is far from concerned.

“I have a bunch of boxes in my condo I haven’t even unpacked yet,” she said. “I’ve been so focused on this. I feel very purpose-driven. It is a very specific task here. I’m just focused on and making sure that no day goes where I haven’t put my best foot forward, and this should go well.”......

In 2019, she started working for the New York Liberty and rose to the assistant GM role. Among her highlights were drafting Miramonte-Orinda alum Sabrina Ionescu and signing league MVPs Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones. The Liberty were in the WNBA Finals in 2023. Nyanin was five years into her tenure with the Liberty, not looking to move, when Lacob called.



https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/valkyries-ohemaa-nyanin-wnba-19605127.php