By GRACE RAYNOR, NEW YORK TIMES
Madina Okot’s eyes welled up and her already gentle voice got even quieter.
No matter how long it’s been, opening up about her family will do that to South Carolina’s star center. “They mean so much to me,” Okot said. “And I’ve been away from them for so long. I miss them.”
Okot, the fifth-born of eight children, hasn’t seen her parents or siblings since August 2024. Not since she left her Kakamega, Kenya, hometown (about 230 miles northwest of Nairobi) to pursue basketball in the U.S., where she enrolled at Mississippi State last season before transferring to South Carolina for this season.
Before she got on the plane for the nearly 8,000-mile trip, her loved ones left her with a parting message. “‘We are in this together,’” she said they had assured her. “‘And we’re going to make sure that we stay connected.’”
Nearly two years later, parents Jacquiline Sikuku and Musa Mulah Masai, as well as Okot’s siblings, have kept their promise with regular FaceTime calls and constant communication.
They had a flood of congratulatory messages waiting for her on Monday night when the Gamecocks beat TCU to earn another Final Four berth, and have watched from Kenya as their daughter and sister has averaged 13.2 points and 10.8 rebounds per game for the Gamecocks, who are known for producing dominant talent down low. Okot’s 22 double-doubles entering South Carolina’s Final Four matchup against top-seeded UConn on Friday are tied for the most among players in all power conferences.
“It’s just been so (many) challenges,” Okot said of her journey to both basketball and the U.S. “They’re so proud of me.”
Okot, who grew up playing volleyball, didn’t touch a basketball until 2020, when she was 16.
She never watched basketball as a kid, had no familiarity with the sport, and wasn’t even sure what exactly basketball was. When she was approached by a basketball coach in Kenya who saw her playing volleyball, she was so uninterested that she gave the coach a wrong phone number to avoid a call asking her to switch sports.
“I didn’t want anything to do with (basketball),” she said.
Eventually, she decided to give the sport a chance. She went into the gym, learned how to dribble and make a layup. The day she successfully hit the one-two step into a layup without traveling was a crucial milestone.
“It was so hard,” she said of learning basketball. “But I fell in love with the game on the first day and that made it so easy for me. … I finally found a sport that I’m in love with.”
In the aftermath of the pandemic, when organized basketball returned, Okot continued learning the game and eventually earned a spot on Kenya’s U23 3×3 national team. She represented Kenya in England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where she grabbed the attention of U.S. college coaches.
“There were just so many recruits. There were just so many coaches that were trying to recruit players,” she said. “And I had a chance to get recruited by one of the coaches from (the U.S), from Troy University.”
She applied for a visa, but was denied. Twice.
After the second letdown, she started to doubt her chances of making it to the U.S.
“I gave up. The process was so overwhelming and discouraging and nobody wants to go through that,” she said, recounting how her parents supported her during the process. She said she cried regularly.
Before the 2023-24 season, Eastern Michigan coaches reached out, and Okot’s father convinced her to give the visa process another try. The embassy denied her — her third failed attempt.
“But I also was considering the fact that my parents were not in a position — I’m from a very big family — to take care of all of us. So it was almost like … I had to consider going to a school that was going to provide me a full scholarship,” she said.
Okot headed to Zetech University just outside of Nairobi. Upon her arrival, coaches and mentors saw her potential and encouraged her to try to find her way to Eastern Michigan one more time. When she was denied a visa again, leaving her devastated for the fourth time, she burst into tears and swore she’d never put herself through that kind of anguish again.
If any other U.S. school called, she told her parents, she had no plans to listen. No sense in breaking her own heart again.
It took a month of convincing from her inner circle to give Mississippi State a chance when the Bulldogs reached out about the 2024-25 season. She applied for a visa for the fifth time.
“Luckily,” she said, “it worked out.”
Okot immediately immersed herself in life in the SEC. She averaged 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for Mississippi State last season. Her 64.9 field goal percentage led the SEC and ranked fourth nationally. Though she declined to explain her reasons for transferring, she arrived at South Carolina in April 2025.
“Playing for our team, there’s a lot of scrutiny. There’s a lot of expectations. And it’s great for her to have to go through it. Even if she’s challenged mentally, because I know it’s a mental toll … she wants to be great. For her, for her country, for us and the next level,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said.
Staley said that the Gamecocks call Okot “Big Mama” because of both her size and her gentle spirit. But her teammates have nurtured her, too, especially throughout a particularly tough summer as she adjusted to life in a South Carolina program that demands much of its players in the pursuit of national titles.
Assistant coach Wendale Farrow said the team prioritized helping Okot find African food around Columbia, S.C., to give her a slice of home. (She’s now partial to Tropical Smoothie Cafe.) Star guard Raven Johnson, Okot’s roommate, played a particularly big role in supporting Okot.
“This summer, she was crying, saying how hard it is. How she wanted to go back to Kenya and she said that she doesn’t think she can take it,” Johnson said. “But we all kept her calm, we kept her here.
“We told her, ‘It’s not always going to be easy. You came here for one thing, the standard is high.’ It’s good she got all her cries out in the summer, and I’m glad she went through that adversity through the summer so she could be where she is now.”
Staley said the Gamecocks — who are two wins away from her fourth national title — wouldn’t be where they are without Okot, who, despite still learning the game, has been South Carolina’s go-to target in the post. Though she’s following a long line of standout Gamecocks post players, she plays differently than stars such as A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso. Okot’s found a way to put her own spin on things within Staley’s system.
South Carolina is in the process of applying for a waiver to secure another year of eligibility for Okot. But if it’s denied, expect Okot to head to the WNBA Draft later this month, where she’d likely be a first-round pick.
“She’s the prototypical WNBA Draft player in that you draft on potential,” said one WNBA general manager, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about scouting Okot. “Her improvement in her game is eye-opening, and she’s now shown the ability to stretch it at the offensive end at her size. She gobbles up rebounds and is a very good rebounder. I think she’s a first-round pick.”
Okot has at least one more college game on Friday when the Gamecocks look to avenge their loss to UConn in last year’s national championship game.
“I think when you think of Madina … she is our anchor,” Farrow said. “She is a presence that brings us joy, she’s kind, she’s a great teammate, and we just want what’s best for her.”
The path to the U.S. was worth it after all.
“Sometimes I wake up, and I’m like, ‘Am I really here?’ Sometimes it feels like it’s a dream because of what I’ve been through to get here,” Okot said. “I’m just so grateful. Every day I wake up, I feel like it’s a great opportunity to get what I once dreamed about.
“I’m here. It’s just something to be grateful for.”
