Valerie Ogoke

Valerie Ogoke (born 10 September 1986) is an American basketball forward playing professionally in Australia for the Canberra Capitals. She played high school basketball for St. Mary's Academy, before going on to play university basketball for Loyola Marymount University (LMU) from 2004 to 2008. While with the LMU team, she participated in a game in Australia against the Australian Institute of Sport team. After finishing university, where she majored in accounting, she played in the Western Australian State Basketball League for the South West Slammers. In 2012, following a three-week trial, she signed with the Canberra Capitals in Australia's Women's National Basketball League.

Personal Ogoke was born on 10 September 1986 in Inglewood, California. Her mother attended university in Nigeria, and Ogoke has two brothers and a sister. In an October 2004 game, she had her first university double double in a loss to Cal Poly. In May 2005, she traveled with her team to Australia, where they played against the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) team. In the team's second game against the AIS with LMU, she scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds. In the 2005/2006 season, she was second on the team for total number of offensive rebounds with 67. She was also the team's leading blocker that season. In 2006/2007, she averaged 7.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

WNBL Ogoke joined the Canberra Capitals for the 2012/13 season. The Canberra Times said she was crucial for the Capitals in terms of filling in until Lauren Jackson returned to the team. She signed to the team in September 2012 following a three-week trial. She was recruited to the team by David Herbert, the current Capitals assistant coach and former West Coast Waves head coach.