Irene Oboavwoduo, an 18-year-old from West Gorton, Manchester, will study for a Psychology degree at the University of Tennessee while competing in the NCAA college basketball league after receiving a full scholarship. She collected her A Level results on Thursday, August 13, and will spend the next four years at the university.
Path to the WNBA
The opportunity could see her get drafted into the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) after completing her studies, potentially playing with or against stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, or Paige Bueckers. Irene picked up basketball at age 12, and six years later she is considered one of the UK's most promising talents in her age group.
She has represented Great Britain at the Under-16 Championships in 2022 and 2023, captained the GB Under-16 National Team to a bronze medal in Turkey in 2024, and was recently called up to the Great Britain Senior Women's National Team for the EuroBasket 2027 Qualifiers in November 2025 and March 2026.
Praise from school and headteacher
Irene credited her school for her development: "Trinity High School over the past seven years has helped me become the person I am today." She added, "My mentors and teachers were the reason I stayed on into the sixth form, and the things I've learnt in the classroom and on the basketball court such as time balancing, discipline and hard work, have made me able to succeed in both my academics and in basketball, and I'm really excited to be opening up my next chapter in Tennessee."
Trinity High School has a history of producing top sporting talent, including professional footballers Danny Welbeck and Luke Matheson. Headteacher Julian Nicholls said, "School really should be about opening up different horizons and opportunities for our young people who all have their own talents and are individually very different types of learners, and this is something here at Trinity that we're big supporters of."
He added, "Our students - including Irene - have excelled themselves again this year with some brilliant results all round that are now seeing them heading off in all kinds of different directions. We couldn't be prouder of each one of them and wish them every success in the future."
