The University of Mississippi Athletics
FEATURE: Akaoma Odeluga, Rising Star in the Shot Put
3/1/2025 | Track and Field
OXFORD, Miss. – It didn't take long for sophomore Akaoma Odeluga to establish herself as one of the top young women's shot putters in the nation.
Odeluga opened eyes with a superb outdoor season in 2024. She won SEC Women's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year honors and set the Ole Miss freshman record at 18.13m/59-05.75, which made her the second-best American-born under-20 thrower all-time. She made the final at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she ultimately finished 11th overall – as a 19-year old. And then she went on to win the World U20 title in the shot put, becoming the first Rebel woman to ever win a world U20 gold medal.
Her sophomore season has been off to a strong start as well, with her current PR in the shot standing at 18.37m/60-03.25 – making her the third-best in Ole Miss history indoors and already the 22nd-best in collegiate history.
Despite her clear success, the shot put is relatively new to Odeluga – whose main sport was basketball throughout middle and high school.
"I started shot put my sophomore year of high school," Odeluga said. "I had originally wanted to join track to stay in shape for basketball."
Odeluga's talent blossomed her senior year of high school in Munster, Indiana, and she began considering the next step for her throwing career. One visit to Oxford and the body of work of Ole Miss' coaching staff sealed her decision.
"The biggest thing that made me choose Ole Miss was that they were giving me a chance, " Odeluga said. "I could tell that they really really believed in me. It seemed like a place that I could come and grow."
"It just seemed the perfect place to come if I really wanted to pursue this seriously," Odeluga continued. "Coming on my visit, talking to [the staff] and seeing what they built, I could tell that this was a place that I could thrive and a place that people truly believed in me and wanted me to do great."
Ole Miss throws coach John Smith has proven himself time and again at finding potential and developing it into world-class talent. And Odeluga – who Smith and crew affectionately call Koko – was no different.
"In Koko, I saw power potential," Smith said. "When female throwers become powerful, hidden athletic talent emerges that no one ever dreamed of existing. She went from a 43-foot high school walk-on to 59-6 in nine months. She went from 13th at the state meet to the World Junior champion."
Odeluga finished high school in Munster, but she has a hidden connection to an extraordinary number of Smith's best throwers: she grew up in south Chicago. Brittany Riley, Jeneva McCall, Janeah Stewart, Shey Taiwo, Jasmine Mitchell – all of them among the best in world history, and all of them share that common origin.
"Honestly, it's cool to kind of be in this little club that (Smith) has," Odeluga said. "I know the lore and I know the expectations that are on me coming from that area. He's definitely picked up some really good throwers and made them into world-class."
Odeluga was also drawn to Ole Miss because of head coach Connie Price-Smith's leadership and vast experience as a world-class thrower herself.
"It's very rare that you can come into a Division I program in one of the hardest conferences in the NCAA and you see a throws coach, a women's throws coach to be exact, as the head coach," Odeluga said.
"When Koko got here, she always had a lot of confidence in her ability, but she's grown so much just being competitive and knowing what she can do," Price-Smith said. "She's matured a lot. She's not as young. She's always been focused, she's always been very comfortable, but now I think she has even more awareness of what she's doing and who she is."
During her freshman season and in preparation for the World U20 Championships in Peru, Odeluga and Price-Smith's relationship continued to develop.
"I spent a lot of time with Coach Connie during that time and she really did help me see how it's like to compete at such a big stage," Odeluga said. "She was a very good, comforting pillar when I was there, she really did help me learn how to thrive."
Odeluga entered World U20s as the favorite, and coming out the other side of it with a gold medal allowed her the opportunity to grow as an athlete and gain valuable experience.
"[Worlds] came with a lot of pressure, and having to go through that pressure, you know they say pressure builds diamonds," Odeluga said. "I feel like that really helped me learn to deal with it, learn how to enter those spaces and focus on me."
Heading into the SEC Indoor Championships, Odeluga strives to keep the same mindset of balancing expectations. She competes for the Rebels in today's women's shot put final at 5 p.m. CT.
"My expectation is to really just go in there and just do what I know and do what I know best, which is to compete and really work hard," Odeluga said.
Odeluga opened eyes with a superb outdoor season in 2024. She won SEC Women's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year honors and set the Ole Miss freshman record at 18.13m/59-05.75, which made her the second-best American-born under-20 thrower all-time. She made the final at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she ultimately finished 11th overall – as a 19-year old. And then she went on to win the World U20 title in the shot put, becoming the first Rebel woman to ever win a world U20 gold medal.
Her sophomore season has been off to a strong start as well, with her current PR in the shot standing at 18.37m/60-03.25 – making her the third-best in Ole Miss history indoors and already the 22nd-best in collegiate history.
Despite her clear success, the shot put is relatively new to Odeluga – whose main sport was basketball throughout middle and high school.
"I started shot put my sophomore year of high school," Odeluga said. "I had originally wanted to join track to stay in shape for basketball."
Odeluga's talent blossomed her senior year of high school in Munster, Indiana, and she began considering the next step for her throwing career. One visit to Oxford and the body of work of Ole Miss' coaching staff sealed her decision.
"The biggest thing that made me choose Ole Miss was that they were giving me a chance, " Odeluga said. "I could tell that they really really believed in me. It seemed like a place that I could come and grow."
"It just seemed the perfect place to come if I really wanted to pursue this seriously," Odeluga continued. "Coming on my visit, talking to [the staff] and seeing what they built, I could tell that this was a place that I could thrive and a place that people truly believed in me and wanted me to do great."
Ole Miss throws coach John Smith has proven himself time and again at finding potential and developing it into world-class talent. And Odeluga – who Smith and crew affectionately call Koko – was no different.
"In Koko, I saw power potential," Smith said. "When female throwers become powerful, hidden athletic talent emerges that no one ever dreamed of existing. She went from a 43-foot high school walk-on to 59-6 in nine months. She went from 13th at the state meet to the World Junior champion."
Odeluga finished high school in Munster, but she has a hidden connection to an extraordinary number of Smith's best throwers: she grew up in south Chicago. Brittany Riley, Jeneva McCall, Janeah Stewart, Shey Taiwo, Jasmine Mitchell – all of them among the best in world history, and all of them share that common origin.
"Honestly, it's cool to kind of be in this little club that (Smith) has," Odeluga said. "I know the lore and I know the expectations that are on me coming from that area. He's definitely picked up some really good throwers and made them into world-class."
Odeluga was also drawn to Ole Miss because of head coach Connie Price-Smith's leadership and vast experience as a world-class thrower herself.
"It's very rare that you can come into a Division I program in one of the hardest conferences in the NCAA and you see a throws coach, a women's throws coach to be exact, as the head coach," Odeluga said.
"When Koko got here, she always had a lot of confidence in her ability, but she's grown so much just being competitive and knowing what she can do," Price-Smith said. "She's matured a lot. She's not as young. She's always been focused, she's always been very comfortable, but now I think she has even more awareness of what she's doing and who she is."
During her freshman season and in preparation for the World U20 Championships in Peru, Odeluga and Price-Smith's relationship continued to develop.
"I spent a lot of time with Coach Connie during that time and she really did help me see how it's like to compete at such a big stage," Odeluga said. "She was a very good, comforting pillar when I was there, she really did help me learn how to thrive."
Odeluga entered World U20s as the favorite, and coming out the other side of it with a gold medal allowed her the opportunity to grow as an athlete and gain valuable experience.
"[Worlds] came with a lot of pressure, and having to go through that pressure, you know they say pressure builds diamonds," Odeluga said. "I feel like that really helped me learn to deal with it, learn how to enter those spaces and focus on me."
Heading into the SEC Indoor Championships, Odeluga strives to keep the same mindset of balancing expectations. She competes for the Rebels in today's women's shot put final at 5 p.m. CT.
"My expectation is to really just go in there and just do what I know and do what I know best, which is to compete and really work hard," Odeluga said.
Players Mentioned
Throws
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