Oderah Chidom’s game isn’t always flashy, but it went unmatched in 2012-13.
“Slinky.”
That’s the nickname the Bishop O’Dowd girls basketball players bestowed on their teammate Oderah Chidom early in her Dragons career.
The nickname, according to senior point guard Ariell Bostick, was rooted in Chidom’s ability to score in almost any situation — or any body angle — once she got the ball under the basket.
“She just has this shot that nobody can really describe, and yet she can get it to go in every time,” Bostick said in an interview with SportStars in December 2011, prior to her and Chidom’s junior season.
A little more than one year and two state championships later, Chidom’s game is still a bit befitting of her nickname. She can always find a way to get her shot up. And there won’t be a lot of flash, but there’s a whole lot of substance — and plenty of positive results.
Despite being on a team loaded with next-level talent, Chidom stood out through her ability to affect the game in several different ways. She could score, rebound on both ends of the court, she could steal and block shots. If it could affect the Dragons in a positive manner, Chidom made it happen.
And everybody took notice. She earned a full-ride scholarship to Duke, spent her summer playing for USA Basketball in the 17U World Championships, and closed her high school career as a McDonald’s All-American — just the second ever to come out of the Bay Area since the girls game began in 2002.
Not too bad for a player who basically referred to herself as the varsity “water girl” her freshman season.
“The first season my focus was just skill development,” she said. “But I was blessed to be on the same teams with three seniors who were all bound for Div.-I colleges. Seeing where basketball took them, I set a goal and a dream of getting my own scholarship. … The hard work paid off and now (basketball) is a passion.”
Chidom quietly helped anchor what could arguably be considered as the best Bay Area girls basketball team of all time, or Northern California’s best for that matter. The Dragons went 30-3 with two out-of-state losses and a loss to Windward-L.A., which they would avenge by defeating the then-unbeaten Wildcats 60-45 in the CIF Open Division state championship game on March 23.
Chidom had 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in the win.
“To redeem ourselves like that in the state championship,” Chidom said, “it was just an amazing way to end my career.”
Let a new career begin.
— Chace Bryson
THE CHIDOM FILES
THE STATS: Chidom averaged a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds a game and added three blocks and two steals a game as well.
COLLEGE DESTINATION: Duke
WHAT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN: Chidom was not initially enamored with basketball and quit after her first year of it in 2nd grade. She returned two years later after having grown five inches. “I figured, you know what, let me try it out again.”
ON WHICH STATE TITLE WAS SWEETER: “They were both amazing. The fact that we made history at our school (as its first basketball state champs in 2011-12), and then my senior class being able to leave a legacy of dominance over the past two seasons. They were both special.”