"Omi," as she is known by her fans and teammates, was almost as jazzed as she was at the clinic the team had run a few weeks earlier. It was the day before her first professional basketball game, against the Colorado Xplosion, and Mulitauaopele seemed more excited than anybody there - players, or fans. Saturday, October 17, 1998 had been officially named "Seattle Reign Day" and a celebration was being held at the Seattle Center. The players painted, shot baskets, signed autographs, and talked with the fans.
"Come dance!" was the call directed towards the newest rookie for the Seattle Reign. With a grin, Naomi Mulitauaopele jumped on to the stage at the Seattle Center, bringing a few of her teammates with her. Naomi's outgoing personality is part of what makes her a fan favorite among Stanford and Reign fans. Being the youngest of five, this might have been a means of survival. Naomi, a full blooded Samoan, who grew up in Seattle, Washington. She attended Chief Sealth High School, where she started on varsity all four years. As both a junior and a senior, Mulitauaopele was named the Top Female Athlete at Chief Sealth. Following her senior year, Naomi was named a Third Team Parade All-American.
In 1994, Naomi Mulitauaopele attended Stanford University on a basketball Scholarship. Her team earned three Final Four teams and four Pac-10 titles, with Naomi averaging 10.2 points in her Junior year. The summer before her senior year, Mulitauaopele had to have surgery on her right patellar tendon. She missed her entire senior year before getting drafted in the second round by the Seattle Reign this year. Naomi is a welcome addition to the Reign, becoming the fifth Stanford player on the 98-99 roster. Stanford alumni make up fifty percent of the team this year.
"I thought it would be nice to be able to come home," Naomi Mulitauaopele told the News Tribune, "My family is all here. I just thought it was the best fit for me. Having the Stanford background that they had on the roster, - yeah, I thought that would be extra. A bonus, having teammates that came from the same program."
Kate Starbird says she doesn't think of the Reign as Stanford Northwest. "We definitely don't. In fact, during the first draft, which I was watching, both Kate (Paye) and Christy (Hedgpeth) got drafted to Seattle. I thought 'oh, gosh, I'll never play there' after that. I thought, that's kind of too bad, because that's where I'm from. Now I'm here too. Then we traded and somehow ended up with Val (Whiting). We needed a post player. The next thing you know, Omi (Mulitauaopele) want's to join the ABL. Coincidence, I guess."
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