Michaela Onyenwere - UCLA

[Kurebeach50]

I don’t get out much, but when did Michaela OnyenWARE become OnyenWAY-DAY. Whatever you call her she can play for me !

 

[nwhoopfan]

Everybody pronounced it WARE her Fr. year, then added the E sound at the end the next year. I have no idea what the announcer is doing today. Sometimes they make the first half sound like onion. She's only been there for 4 years, it takes a while to figure out how to pronounce a name you know.

 

[DefenseBB]

Everybody pronounced it WARE her Fr. year, then added the E sound at the end the next year. I have no idea what the announcer is doing today. Sometimes they make the first half sound like onion. She's only been there for 4 years, it takes a while to figure out how to pronounce a name you know.

Oh, so what you are saying is maybe next year, Andy "1950's oil slick in the hair" Landers will be able to pronounce Oliva Nelson-Ododa pronounce Oh-doh-duh....?

 

[donalddoowop]

Her mother told the announcers the correct way to pronounce her name three years ago. Wayday.

 

[CBus13]

You can hear Michaela pronounce her name on UCLA's roster page. So, it was probably just a lack of knowledge by the announcers part, not a change in pronunciation.

The name is supposed to be pronounced Own-yen-wed-ay, according to an LATimes article featuring Michaela and her father, Peter, who competed at the Olympics for Nigeria.

UCLA basketball star Michaela Onyenwere has an Olympic aspiration

Michaela Onyenwere of UCLA is on track to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team as a member of the 3x3 women's basketball team for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

www.latimes.com

2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster - UCLA

The official 2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster for the UCLA Bruins

uclabruins.com

 

[nwhoopfan]

The name is supposed to be pronounced Own-yen-wed-ay

That's really not what it sounds like she's saying in that link w/ the pronunciation guide though.



Nobody is saying Chantel Horvat's name correctly...because they aren't using an Australian accent.

 

[Bigboote]

There was a guy recently (on a halftime show, I think) who pronounced it own-ya-wend-ay. The r sound is presumably like it is in Japanese -- not exactly rolled, not exactly pronounced like a d, but stopped.

For those of you who follow the W, Astou Ndour's surname pronunciation has changed at least twice, possibly three times over the last few years, and a couple of them have me shaking my head. Her rookie year, the announcers were pronouncing it like Endor. EN-door. The next year it was do. I think they've been getting closer more recently with something more like (n)doo.