April 29, 2024

Spring 2024 Outstanding Graduate — Amaka Unobagha

Amaka Unobagha couldn’t have fully imagined what was ahead at Ferris State University when a long-time basketball teammate put in a good word for her with the Bulldog women’s basketball coaching staff.  

Talented senior point guard Mallory McCartney, one of Unobagha’s best friends, saw something special in her fellow Saginaw native.   

McCartney put the word out, hoping the Ferris State coaches would see that same something in a player who averaged 11 points, 15 rebounds and 7.7 blocks as a senior at Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy – finishing her prep career as one of the state’s premier shot blockers. By the end of her senior year, Unobagha had amassed 631 blocks, the third-most in state history.  

“Mallory and I have known each other since I was in the sixth grade, and she was in the seventh, so when I say, ‘we have grown up together,’ I mean it,” said Unobagha, who graduates from Ferris State on Saturday, May 4. “She could tell you how I used to not be able to dribble or shoot the ball; really all I was good at was defense because I was tall. But Mallory’s family immediately took me in as one of their own and we would travel to every AAU practice and tournament together.”  

This Unobagha-McCartney bond grew despite playing for different Saginaw high schools.  

“We always found time to see each other’s basketball games, and Mallory even came out to some of my band concerts,” Unobagha said. “We learned quickly that it was so much bigger than basketball. I was blessed that the sport brought us in each other’s lives.”  

McCartney planted the seed, and Ferris State saw that special something in Unobagha, the grateful product of a small Saginaw high school with about 530 students, an academic-focused mission and the motto “Moving Futures Forward.”   

U.S. News and World Report has ranked Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy as one of Michigan’s top high schools and at the top of the list in the Saginaw area.  

“I came to Ferris from a very tiny school that focuses more on a specialized education experience,” Unobagha said. “It wasn’t a private school -- we weren’t wearing uniforms or anything like that. But the teachers always stressed education above athletics. Coming to Ferris State, I felt determined to find a balance. I’ve always heavily emphasized academics, but now I faced the new challenge of the heavy demands of being a college athlete. I worked hard to balance the two while pushing myself to stay disciplined in both aspects.”  

Unobagha saw Ferris State as the perfect foundation for bringing her academic and athletic dreams to life – a foundation that included an instant support system: her teammates.  

“That’s the wonderful thing about Ferris,” she said. “I had leaders on my team who helped us transition from high school to college as a student-athlete. They prepared us for the unknown while holding us responsible for our actions. We also have an amazing community of student-athletes on all Ferris teams. It is always fun to go with my teammates to watch a football or volleyball game and then see those same athletes supporting us at our games. We have a very tight-knit community, and all the teams take pride in supporting each other. It truly is something special.”  

Unobagha, a 6-foot forward senior, joined McCartney as a group member determined to lift the program to new heights. The Bulldogs won the 2024 NCAA Division II Midwest Region Championship, advancing to the Elite Eight, then the Final Four and finishing as the No. 3 team in the nation – all for the first time in program history.  

During reflection, Unobagha smiled, “I have grown a lot these past couple years, but I still have so much growing left to do.”  

Turning the page, Unobagha is ready to move from basketball champion to a new title: doctor.  

She is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, Pre-Med from Ferris State’s College of Arts, Sciences and Education.  

The first-generation American whose family is from Nigeria – a country on the western coast of Africa – is ready to positively impact the lives of those who can often be the most vulnerable among us – children.   

“I plan on pursuing a career in Pediatrics as an Intensive Care Unit doctor or as a pediatrician,” Unobagha said. “I love children. I’ve always wanted to be someone who gives a voice for the children who can’t advocate for themselves. A baby can’t tell you, ‘Ow, my head hurts!’ or ‘I can’t hear out of my left ear.’ Children deserve that voice in healthcare, they deserve providers that will do whatever it takes to give them the best care possible. I look forward to enriching the foundation that Ferris has given me to continue my journey in medicine.”  

She is looking toward a bright future. Yet, she knows that the hard work is only just beginning.  

“Playing basketball while being a student in college has taught me the importance of being patient in my process,” she said. “I have told many people that I plan on taking a gap year because I need to focus on studying for the MCAT and perfecting my medical school applications. Getting into medical school is not something to take lightly, and it I know it will demand even more patience out of me as I prepare for this next step.”  

Unobagha’s support system extends beyond her teammates and coaches, beginning with her family, including her parents, Emmanuel, her father; and Ogochukwu Unobagha, her mother; her older brother Chukwuebuka Unobagha, 26 years old; older sister Chidinma Unobagha, 24; and Amaka’s 14-year-old younger sister, Abigail Unobagha.  

Her mother came to the United States in 1996, and my father in the 1980s. The children were all born and raised in Saginaw, and extended family is still in Nigeria.  

The Unobaghas of the United States still keep in touch with family in Nigeria.  

“Aside from the regular phone calls, I’ve also had the opportunity to visit Nigeria twice,” she said. “The first time I visited was when I was 3 years old, in 2005, so I barely remember it. But we had an opportunity to go again back in 2013. Looking back on it, there are no proper words to describe that experience, in large part because I was still so young and couldn’t completely appreciate everything. However, the main word that always comes to mind is ‘home’ and that feeling of being where I have always longed to be.”  

She said Saginaw is her home, the one she’s always known and had the pleasure of growing up in.   

“But going back to Nigeria and being around my family, the people who look like me, share the same blood as me, and share the same heritage as me; that gave me the feeling of a home that will forever bind me to them.”  

Unobagha doesn’t want to see that connection to her family abroad grow cold.  

“I’m counting down the months until I can go back because my family and I are planning on making our way home within the next year. I’m excited to be around everyone again and see how much they’ve all grown,” she said.  

On the basketball hardwood, Unobagha played in 30 of the team’s 32 games during the 2023-24 season, including one start. Her productive play off the bench helped the Bulldogs advance to the national semifinals after a victory over the University of Tampa in the quarterfinals.  

It was special to finish the season 26-6, with a regional championship win, and three times claim a victory over the nation’s top-ranked team.  

Even more notable, however, was Unobagha enjoying the historic journey with some of her best friends.  

“We’re all the best of friends – from top to bottom on our roster, and that’s what makes it so much easier,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, in previous seasons, we were all best friends, and there was never a point in my career when I wasn’t surrounded by my best friends. But this season it was different, we all played with so much joy in our hearts because we were playing with the love we have for each other. The families showed up to every game and gave us the greatest support system in the nation. And they gave me the opportunity to become as close with them as I was with my teammates.”  

A smiling Unobagha added, “This program is truly like no other and will always be my family.”