Jewels' "real shot" at WNBL history

The WNBL has grown exponentially since its inception 46 years ago, both on and off the court.

During that time, there have been countless record broken, including Belinda Snell putting up 54 points for Sydney in their win over West Coast during the 2004/2005 campaign.

One milestone that is yet to be achieved during the League's history is the first player to dunk in a game.

That could all change in WNBL27, after the Tasmania Jewels announced the exciting of athletic import Madina Okot.

Standing 198c centimetres with a 208-centimetre wingspan, the Kenyan-born volleyball convert, currently playing in the WNBA for Atlanta, has measured close to a 50-centimetre vertical.

Jewels coach Claudia Brassard believes Odot could produce an iconic WNBL moment this season.

"Okot is so exciting, in so many ways," Brassard said to CODE Sports.

"She's strong, athletic, driven and her vertical. I think she's in with a real shot of being the first person to dunk in WNBL history.

"It's incredible to think that, in its 46-year history, the League hasn't seen a woman dunk before, and it's beyond time for that to change."

Previously, Liz Cambage, Zitina Aokuso and Jen Hamson all had chances to etch their names in the history books, but never achieved the dunk.

Former Australian Opal and WNBL star Cambage made world headlines when she dunked at the 2012 Olympics, Adelaide Lightning's Aokuso was able to dunk in practice during her teenage years and American Hamson, who played for Sydney from 2016-18, regularly dunked when not in game conditions.

Odot and her Jewels' first-ever game is against Geelong on October 15 at MyState Bank Arena.

Read the full story here >> New Tasmania Jewels import Madina Okot tipped to become first woman to dunk in WNBL history