Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Region: Africa

Kelley Cain

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  South Africa
  • 2014  –  Rwanda

Kelley Cain is an American basketball center who last played for the Connecticut Sun. Currently she plays for Gure Belediye Woman Basketball Club in Izmir, Turkey.

Cain was a member of the USA Women’s U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in 2006. Cain helped the team earn the gold medal by scoring 6.5 points per game. Her field goal percentage of 57.9% was second among all contestants and 1.75 blocks per game which tied her for first place. She was selected as the 7th overall pick by New York Liberty during the 2012 WNBA Draft.

Ronald Cass III

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2015  –  Mozambique
  • 2015  –  Botswana
  • 2015  –  South Africa

Chineze Nwagbo

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2019  –  Kosovo
  • 2019  –  Azerbaijan
  • 2019  –  Albania
  • 2019  –  Tanzania
  • 2023  –  Malaysia

Chineze Nwagbo started her basketball career at Duval Senior High School in Lanham, Maryland, where she is recognized as a four-year varsity letter recipient and two-time team captain. Her honors include two back-to-back State Championship Titles, All-American Honorable Mention, All-County First Team, All-Gazette, USA Today’s Most Improved and Most Important Player to Scout in Maryland, amongst a plethora of other accolades.

Chinny was a standout basketball player at Syracuse, where she earned her B.S. in Biology. Shortly after graduating, Chinny embarked on a career playing professionally for 11 years in Spain, Chile, Brazil, Poland, Portugal, & Israel, winning 4 MVP titles and appearances in championship games. The highlight of her career was when she represented her parent’s native country of Nigeria in the 2006 World Championship Games.

After retiring in 2016, Chinny began a series of ventures with the NBA. In China, she helped develop the grassroots implementation of an NBA-based basketball curriculum. She has done work for Jr. NBA programs, the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders developmental camps, and has been brought on to work with the Atlanta Hawks, NY Knicks, Washington Wizards, and the National Basketball Players Association as a youth development coach and mentor.

She has served as an Envoy for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Sports Diplomacy program, which was designed to use the transformative power of sports to create social change in global communities around the world by bridging divides, creating cultural understanding, supporting women’s empowerment (& gender equality), advocating safe environments for kids with disabilities to play, and championing the importance of creating a more equitable and peaceful society.

As an Envoy, Chinny has traveled to various parts of the world, building relations with various U.S. Embassies, Sports Federations, Sultans, Chargé d’ Affaires, administrators, coaches, and elite players. She has also dedicated her time as a motivational speaker to various youth programs and amazing nonprofits geared toward providing resources for under-represented & underserved youth worldwide. In her spare time, she has appeared on New Channel 8’s SportsTalk show as a guest sports analyst and hopes to play an instrumental role in the game’s growth, primarily serving as a role model for
young girls.

In 2020, Chinny joined PeacePlayers International, an organization utilizing the
transformative power of sports to bridge divides in historically conflicted
communities worldwide. There she served as the Director of Youth Programs & Development for Baltimore city providing unserved and underrepresented young people of color with afterschool programming geared towards connecting the community, providing equitable experiences and tools to mitigate conflict.

All these experiences have led Chinny to the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) where she is the Director of Player Programs and Engagement dedicated to creating programs and resources to ensure Professional Athletes succeed far beyond the playing field!

Nzingha Prescod

Fencing

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Algeria

A two-time Olympian and Brooklyn native, Prescod became the first African-American woman to win an individual medal at the Senior World Championships when she took bronze in 2015.

Prescod hails from the well-regarded Peter Westbrook Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing the art of fencing to the inner-city youth of New York, where she has been fencing since she was nine years old. Prescod displayed an extraordinary talent for the sport at a very young age, winning her first Youth 10 national competition in 2003. By the age of 15, Prescod was ranked in the top five of the Senior division, among the nation’s elite and Olympic women’s foilists. In the same year, 2008, Prescod won her first Cadet (under-17) World Championship and followed up the next year with her second World Championship title. In 2011, she continued her dominance on the world stage with another World Championship win in the Junior (under-20) category. That same year, Prescod was also featured in Essence magazine as part of the Work & Wealth Power List, with First Lady Michelle Obama gracing the cover. Prescod has since been featured in national and international media, most recently being included in the 2016 ESPN Body Issue.

Prescod qualified for the London Olympic Games at just 19 and returned to the pinnacle of fencing competition in Rio at 23 where she finished 11th.

Ibtihaj Muhammad

Fencing

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  United Kingdom
  • 2013  –  Russia
  • 2021  –  Global
  • 2022  –  Morocco

Ibtihaj Muhammad is an entrepreneur, activist, speaker and Olympic medalist in fencing. A 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, 5-time Senior World medalist and World Champion, in 2016, Ibtihaj became the first American woman to compete in the Olympics in hijab. Ibtihaj was a 3-time All American at Duke University where she graduated with a dual major in International Relations and African Studies. In 2014, Ibtihaj launched her own clothing company, Louella, which aims to bring modest, fashionable and affordable clothing to the United States market. In 2017, Mattel announced their first hijabi Barbie, modeled in Ibtihaj’s likeness, as part of Barbie’s “Shero” line of dolls. The Barbie became available for purchase in July 2018. Ibtihaj released her debut memoir in July 2018, PROUD: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream. Ibtihaj released her third book, children’s picture book, The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab & Family, that became a New York Times’ Best-Seller.

Ibtihaj is a sports ambassador with the U.S. Department of State’s Empowering Women and Girls through Sport Initiative, and works closely with organizations like Athletes for Impact and the Special Olympics. Named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential list, Ibtihaj is an important figure in a larger global discussion on equality and the importance of sport. Her voice continues to unite both the sports and non-sports world.

Shameka Christon

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2005  –  Algeria

Born in Illinois, Shameka Christon began her basketball career at Hot Springs High School, guiding the team to back-to-back state championships while earning state championship MVP honors twice. She was also named Gatorade Player of the Year and earned Arkansas Player of the Year honors.

At the University of Arkansas, Christon was named SEC Player of the Year as a senior in 2004 after averaging career-highs of 21.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. She finished her collegial career ranked second on Arkansas’ all-time scoring list (1,951 points).

Post-graduation, Christon was selected by New York in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2004 WNBA Draft. Her 2009 season saw her named to the WNBA All-Star team with a career high average of 16.1 points and 4.9 rebounds. In 2010, she was then traded to Chicago. In 2012, Christon signed with San Antonio as a free agent. Across her 11 WNBA seasons, Christon averaged 9.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

Internationally, Christon won a Gold Medal with Team USA at the 2002 FIBA World Championships for Women in China. She additionally spent the WBNA off-seasons playing for teams in countries such as Russia, Poland, Spain, and Israel.

Outside of basketball, Christon owns her own company, Shameka Christon Enterprises, an organization which encompasses profit and non-profit ventures, including a daycare, mentoring program, and personal basketball and fitness training academy.

Ruth Riley

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2014  –  Morocco
  • 2014  –  Democratic Republic of Congo
  • 2014  –  Spain
  • 2015  –  Mozambique
  • 2015  –  Botswana
  • 2015  –  South Africa
  • 2015  –  Saudi Arabia

Person Info/Academic
-Born: August 28, 1979
-University of Notre Dame 1997-2001
-Summa Cum Laude, BA in Psychology
-Recipient of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship
-2001 Recipient of the NCAA Today’s Top VIII Award recognizing athletics, academic achievement, character and leadership
-First Vice President of the WNBA Players Association since 2005
-A 2010 inductee into Notre Dame’s prestigious Ring of Honor
-Inducted into the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame
-Wrote a children’s book “Spirit of Basketball” for the WNBA’s Detroit Shock
-13 year WNBA veteran currently playing for the Atlanta Dream

In the Community
-Spokesperson for “Nothing But Nets” established by the UN Foundation to combat Malaria in Africa (#1 killer of children on the continent)
-Spokesperson for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry initiative.
-Co-Founder of Inspire Transformation (and NGO that does HIV/AIDS awareness & prevention through leadership and sports training in South Africa)
-4 time recipient of the WNBA’s Community Assist Player
-Appointed in 2009, by President George W. Bush to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
-Recipient of the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award in 2010
-Recipient of the 2011 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award presented by the WNBA
-NBA/WNBA Cares Ambassador for the NBA since 2013

USA Basketball
-2004 Gold Medal Olympic Games (Athens)
-1999 Silver Medal World University Games

WNBA
-2006 WNBA Champions (Detroit)
-2005 WNBA All-star (Detroit)
-2003 WNBA Champions (Detroit)
-2003 WNBA Finals MVP
-2003 No. 1 Overall WNBA Dispersal draft pick by Detroit
-2001 No. 5 Overall WNBA draft pick by Miami Sol

College Basketball Awards and Honors
-2001 NCAA Finals MVP
-2001 NCAA Champions
-2001 Naismith Player of the Year
-2001 Big East Player of the Year
-2001 NCAA Verizon Academic All-American of the Year
-2001 Big East conference Silver Anniversary Women’s Basketball Team
-three-time Big East All-Tournament Team (1999- 2001)
-three-time Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year (1999-2001)
-two time Associated Press All-American First Team (2000, 2001)
-1998 Big East All-Rookie Team

Patricia “Ticha” Penicheiro

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  Angola
  • 2014  –  South Africa
  • 2014  –  Rwanda

Growing up in Portugal, Patricia “Ticha” Penicheiro was introduced to basketball by her father and brother when she was just five years old. Immediately hooked on the sport, Ticha spent countless hours on the playground courts proving girls can play sports too. All the teasing and blocking she received as a female playing with her older and stronger male counterparts groomed her for what was to come, which was more than she could have ever imagined.

Before long, Ticha had developed the “American Dream” and decided she wanted to come to the United States and attend a university. After being offered a few full basketball scholarships, Ticha chose to attend Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, VA and in 1994 packed her bags and left her country, her family and her friends to follow her dream.

From 1994 through 1998, Ticha grew as a woman and a basketball player while helping to position ODU back to a place of national recognition as a Top 25 team for the majority of her college career. Seeing her dreams come true before her eyes, Ticha was considered one of the top players in the United States. By 1998, Ticha was a two-time Kodak All-American player and won the prestigious Wade Trophy Award. Inspired to work toward her next career milestone, Ticha followed along with the first season of the WNBA in 1997, ready to make her move.

Upon graduating ODU in 1998, she was quickly drafted as second pick overall and headed to Sacramento, CA to begin her career playing in the best women’s professional basketball league in the world. For the next 12 years, California became Ticha’s home and before the Sacramento Monarchs folded in 2009, they were able to bring a WNBA championship to the city in 2005. Ticha’s next career move was to former rivals, the Los Angeles Sparks where she played two seasons. Then in 2012, she joined the Chicago Sky for her 15th and last season in the WNBA.

Through it all, Ticha is most grateful for the amazing friends she made and has created lifetime memories. “Being European, I loved heading to Europe and continuing to get my passport stamped visiting so many different countries through basketball.”

Ticha had a stellar professional career. Looking back, Ticha has humbly exceeded her expectations in moving across the country from Portugal to America as a young woman. Under her belt are three different WNBA teams, four-time All Star, a first team All League a few times and was able to leave her mark as one of the best passers in the league. Following such a successful and adventurous career, Ticha has finally retired and decided to follow her heart and become a sports agent, “becoming a sports’ agent is something Ive always seen myself doing because it will keep me close to the game I love and I will be able to help players make a smoother transition to the professional basketball world”, Ticha said.

Ticha is now the Director of Women’s Basketball at the Sports International Group (SIG).

Nykesha Sales

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Uganda
  • 2010  –  Cape Verde
  • 2011  –  Haiti
  • 2012  –  Venezuela
  • 2013  –  Ukraine
  • 2014  –  South Korea

The all-time leading scorer in Connecticut Sun history, Nykesha Sales returns to the team for her second season as the community liaison and an assistant to the coaching staff.

In 2013, Sales made numerous community relations appearances on behalf of the Sun, practiced regularly with the team and also provided color commentary on selected team broadcasts.

Sales was the first member of the Connecticut Sun franchise, which began as the Orlando Miracle prior to the 1999 season. She played with the team from 1999-2007, helping the Sun reach two WNBA Finals and four straight Eastern Conference Finals between 2003 and 2006.

A seven-time WNBA All-Star, Sales was the second player in league history to amass 3,000 points, 500 assists and 400 steals during her career – joining Sheryl Swoopes. She finished her career with 3,955 points, 683 assists and 490 steals.

Monique Ambers

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2010  –  Tunisia

Monique Ambers joins Monarchs head coach Maura McHugh, Michele Cherry and Steve Shuman to complete the coaching staff.

This is Ambers’ second coaching position, having been an assistant coach at George Washington University from 1994 – 1997. During that time, the Lady Colonials amassed an 80-19 record. The former professional basketball player was initially drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in the fourth round of the 1997 WNBA draft. Ambers reached the WNBA Semifinals with this team. In 1997, Ambers averaged .444 field goal percentage, .400 free throw percentage and 1.2 rebounds per game in 19 games played for Phoenix. Ambers will focus on developing the skills of the post players and advanced scouting for the Monarchs.

A 1993 graduate of Arizona State University, Ambers holds a bachelor of science degree in Child Development.