There is a particular kind of athlete whose story doesn’t fit neatly into the typical sports narrative — one whose journey operates on multiple tracks simultaneously, refusing to be reduced to a single headline. Maryam Dauda is that athlete. In the span of a few weeks this spring, the former South Carolina forward represented a nation, reunited with former teammates now playing professionally, and finished a master’s degree. Oh, and she had to skip a game for the Nigerian National Team because she had an exam to take back at USC. That detail alone tells you everything you need to know about where Dauda currently stands — and just how extraordinary her path forward is shaping up to be.
Dauda was selected to join Nigeria’s National Team for a series of WNBA preseason games in April and May, making her one of a small group of players chosen to represent the country on a professional stage. For someone who had spent her college career chasing — and reaching — national championships, it was a different kind of milestone, and one that clearly hit differently.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Dauda told The State. “There’s so many Nigerian college players that most people don’t even know of, and being one of the select few that got invited to the camp, it was definitely exciting. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. It was just finding the opportunity doing college basketball, and finding time in my basketball schedule to be able to do this, and then finally getting an invite from the national team. I was very, very excited.”
The path to the camp began when a Nigerian team representative reached out to Lisa Boyer, USC’s longtime associate head coach, with an invitation. Dauda didn’t hesitate. Her eligibility to represent Nigeria traces back to her birthplace — she was born there before moving to the United States at age 12, and still has family, including her biological parents, living there. The emotional weight of the opportunity wasn’t lost on them either.
“My parents were so excited,” Dauda said. “Back home, the women’s team is such a huge deal and a lot of people respect them, look up to them and everything. And finally, me getting the opportunity to get an invite to a camp was just an amazing experience. So they were excited for me and proud.”
The Nigeria squad convened in San Diego for a five-day training camp, where the real challenge wasn’t physical — it was cultural and tactical. The majority of players came from European basketball systems, meaning Dauda had to quickly adapt to different terminology, different schemes, and a fundamentally different approach to the game than the one Dawn Staley had built around her at South Carolina.
“It was definitely a different dynamic than playing in college,” Dauda said. “Different playing style, different terminology compared to what I was used to at South Carolina. But it was definitely a good experience, for sure, just to show me how different it is [and] how different organizations, different coaches and everything deal with implementing stuff with their team that they’re coaching.”
That adaptability speaks to something deeper about Dauda as a player and a person. Two years inside one of the most demanding programs in college basketball — one that demands defensive intensity, positional discipline, and selfless play above all else — left her more prepared than most for the rigors of professional-level adjustment. Even against WNBA talent, she noted, the nerves weren’t the issue. The excitement was simply too overwhelming.
“I was more excited to be in the shoes and being given an opportunity to play against a WNBA team,” she said. “I was just excited I was able to put on the Nigerian jersey and represent my country and everything.”
Nigeria lost all three of its preseason games, but the scoreboard arguably wasn’t the point. Dauda appeared in two of the three contests — logging six minutes and a block in an 89-63 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, then four minutes in an 88-79 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. The third game? She had to skip it entirely to return to USC and sit for an exam. It’s a remarkable, deeply human footnote to the story of a young woman navigating the threshold between student and professional athlete in real time.
The Sparks game delivered an unexpected layer of emotion. Waiting on the other side of the court were former South Carolina teammates Ta’Niya Latson and Sania Feagin, now officially professionals. Dauda even found herself guarding Latson at one point — a disorienting but joyful collision of past and present.
“It was so, so nice seeing Feagin and Ta’Niya. I haven’t seen Feagin in a while. It was so nice catching up with her, talking to her, and then Ta’Niya was just like, ‘Oh my gosh. Good to see you again.'” Dauda said. “It was so exciting to see my Gamecock teammates and just catch up with them and pick their brains to see how training camp is going with them.”
Beyond basketball, Dauda’s time in San Diego carried a quieter kind of significance — the simple act of being surrounded by people who shared her heritage.
“I haven’t been around that many [Nigerian] people in a while, and it just brought back so many memories and everything,” she said. “It was just exciting, just being able to wear that jersey and everything.”
As she maps out what comes next, Dauda carries with her not just two national championship appearances, but two degrees — a bachelor’s in services management with a minor in economics, and a master’s in retail innovation she completed this semester. The academic and athletic résumé she has assembled is genuinely unusual, and it positions her for a life well beyond the game if she chooses it.
For now, though, basketball remains the priority.
“I’m planning on playing overseas somewhere and just testing the waters to see how my journey is going to keep going,” Dauda said. “I’m going to keep playing basketball, for sure.”
And if the overseas route doesn’t materialize? Dawn Staley has made clear on multiple occasions that a spot on her coaching staff is Dauda’s whenever she wants it. That’s not a bad safety net to have — though given everything Dauda has shown this spring, betting against her finding her own way seems like a losing proposition.
