Former Atlantic 10 Sixth Woman of the Year at Dayton, fourth-year women’s basketball center Tenin Magassa is now taking advantage of her time with the University of Rhode Island.
Magassa’s journey began in Morsang-Sur-Orge, France. She prioritized basketball from an early point in her life, dedicating herself to the game and putting in hard work.
A decision was made by Magassa’s family to immigrate to the U.S. after Magassa graduated from Jean Moulin High School in Vincennes, a suburb of Paris. She was a varsity letterwinner all four years.
On top of that, she competed at both the U-16 and U-18 European Championships for France before her collegiate career. Both French National teams won bronze, but Magassa’s individual effort had improved. She was the third leading scorer on the third-place team at the U-18 showcase.
This caught the attention of the University of Dayton, who signed her in the summer of 2020. During her first-year campaign with the Flyers, she earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. She finished her career at Dayton fifth all-time in blocks through two seasons.
Magassa entered the transfer portal following her second year with the Flyers, where Rams associate head coach Adeniyi Amadou played a role in recruiting her over to the Rams.
“I’ve known him since I was 14,” Magassa said about Amadou. “He’s been guiding me through my college experience here.”
For Amadou, he’s enjoyed not only getting to coach Magassa on the court, but also help her grow in other aspects of life.
Magassa battled through a shoulder and achilles injury in her first year at URI, but received opportunities later in the 2022-2023 season, playing a total of 14 games. Notably, she notched 12 points and eight boards in the WNIT First Round 46-40 win over Boston University.
This past summer, Magassa stated that she put in the work, building up her strength to prepare for the 2023-2024 season.
“The main point was making sure that I’m healthy, that my body was ready to handle the pressure of being a women’s college basketball athlete,” Magassa said. “I was also working on building cohesion with my teammates.”
However, a teammate that Magassa didn’t have to build cohesion with is Mayé Touré, who she played basketball with in France in her childhood.
“We’ve known each other for a long time now, and we played a whole season together when we were 13,” Magassa said. “We didn’t look like how we look like right now, we didn’t have the same presence on the court. Now, we make each other better when we practice and have this big presence when we play games. So yeah, it’s nice to have her here and to play with her.”
Amadou has also known Touré since her youth.
“Early on, these were two kids that decided that basketball was going to be a very important part of their lives,” Amadou said. “Sometimes I catch myself watching them on the floor because it’s amazing that I’ve watched them since they were 13-14 years old.”
Magassa has seen the floor a lot more in her second year with the Rams. In just nine games played, she has 189 minutes under her belt. By comparison, she notched 185 minutes in 14 games played last season.
Out-performing her third-year form, Magassa has improved in the areas of rebounding average (5.3), blocks (24), steals (9), points (76) and free throw percentage (.720).
Magassa has been a difference-maker as a starter this season, according to coach Amadou.
After a tight win over No. 25 ranked Princeton at home and a road loss at Providence, the Rams will stay on the road as they travel to St. John’s on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.