From London to College Park: Maryland Women’s Basketball’s Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu Brings Energy, Resilience and a High Motor to the Terps

Nearly a decade ago, over 1,600 miles from College Park, Maryland’s spark plug was finding a love for basketball.

Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu grew up in London, England, an area better known for soccer, rugby, and cricket than basketball.

An energetic child, Ozzy-Momodu was involved in an abundance of hobbies and activities, but she was waiting for one to stick. She swam, but didn’t love it, nor did she have the prowess she now possesses in basketball. 

It wasn’t until a frightful encounter that she realized her athleticism, and more importantly, her speed. 

“One day, my grandma was taking me to school and there was a dog,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “I just don't really do dogs, but the dog was running toward me. My grandma was telling me not to run, but it was still running toward me. The only thing I could think of was to turn and run.”

She got away in one piece, but also with a lesson: she’s fast. She dove into out-of-water sports and found a love for basketball. She describes herself as a person who can’t just sit around and do nothing. Growing up, all of her various hobbies kept her busy, but not completely fulfilled. Once she found hoops in middle school, however, she “settled down” and locked in on the sport. 

“In my last year of high school, we were doing good,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “I was also playing well, breaking records and all that stuff. My coach instilled it into me that I can do this at the college level in America.”

She wouldn’t be the first of her family to try her hand at college basketball. Her sister, Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu, played three seasons for Eastern Michigan, paving a path to collegiate stardom for her younger sister. 

Ozzy-Momodu came to the United States to play for Gulf Coast State, a junior college in Panama City, Florida. She had two stellar seasons for the Commodores, including a 2023 season that saw her average 16.7 points, 11.6 rebounds and shoot 73% from the floor in 23 games.

“When I went to JUCO, I was scared, but playing well,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “I started thinking, okay, how about D1? Maryland and other schools started calling me, but Maryland really stood out to me.”

Enter Brenda Frese. Impressed by both Ozzy-Momodu’s play and character, Frese recruited her to College Park.

“She’s just a high motor, a high energy,” Frese said. “She just wants everyone to do well, and it’s very contagious.”

She’s the spark plug in the locker room and the booster that every team needs. That being said, if she hadn’t found basketball, she said her alternate path would be far from the energetic presence she brings to the court.

“I would be in an orchestra, playing the violin,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “There’s just something about it. It's just very calm, soothing. It just sounds so calming. I just love the violin. Yes, it may seem a little bit hard, but once you master it, you've mastered it.”

Now, she’s working on mastering basketball, along with being the best teammate she can be, even in the dampest of circumstances. She brings players up, even through struggles and injury. She missed all of last season with a torn ACL, but it didn’t seem to snuff her ability to be a commandingly fun presence on the team.

“It can't be too quiet around me,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “I like seeing others happy around me, laughing. I always want to have a good time. I don't want sad times around me. Even with my ACL, I never took it too seriously. My teammates were upset, but there was no crying from me. I always like to be happy. I always want everyone else to be happy around me, and I realized that my energy is very contagious. If I'm mad, it's gonna be a bad day.”

Still, her impact on the court was missed, but she used it as a season of growth and learning. It was a year of adding fuel to her fire and visions to her dream.

“Sitting on the bench made me see a lot of things,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “It just made me hungry. It just made me hungry and ready to play. I saw games like the Alabama game and the Ohio State game. I live for games like that. Seeing and remembering those games just made me want to come back even stronger.”

She’s back this year and is breaking out for the Terps in her first full season at Maryland. She’s making bigger impacts as the season goes on and finding her footing at the acme of college hoops.

“It started with her rehab,” Frese said. “She took it very seriously in order to get herself back in this position. She used that year to be able to gain that experience watching and learn how much we count on her to perform.”

She’s been a lightning bolt of energy when the team needs her, but also a friend and an empath to those fighting the same battles she went through. 

It’s no secret that the injury bug has bitten Maryland this season, but Ozzy-Momodu’s relationship with her teammates is helping keep everyone’s spirits up, even through the pain. 

“I've given them tips every day,” Ozzy-Momodu said about Maryland’s injured Terps. “When Lea Bartelme was doing the BFR, I knew I had to be there for her, because that's very painful. If they're doing something, the least I could do is join in with them because I know how. But if I can be with them and we do it all together, their journey is going to go by swiftly.”

She knows the path back to playing because she’s walked it recently. In her time off the court, she learned a lot about the sport, but even more about herself. 

“I learned that I am strong and that I can do anything hard,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “Before my injury, I was a person that was like, ‘I can't do this’. Now, I know I can. I'm mentally strong, and my confidence has grown. I had confidence before, but now, my confidence has just skyrocketed because of the love and support I have from my teammates.”

Her confidence has grown, but so has her ability. She recorded her first-career double-double against Delaware State and her numbers seem to be increasing with every opportunity she gets to be back on the floor. 

“I think she just keeps getting better and better,” Frese said. “The more reps and experience that she can get, she’s finding her footing. That’s who she is and we need her to be that presence.”

“In the beginning it kind of felt weird,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “It’s not that I had forgotten basketball, but my rhythm. My brain knows what I'm doing, but my body is still getting into that rhythm now, but for the past few games, that's where I saw the glimpses of the old me, and I was really happy and that really solidified that I remember now.”

She’s stepped into what promises to be her strongest season yet, and her message to her new fanbase is simple: 

“They should know that I’m a dog,” Ozzy-Momodu said. “I’m not going to give up.”