Tiana Mangakahia is a professional basketball player. Tiana Mangakahia made her debut at the Australian Institute of Sport, where she was a member of the Townsville Fire alongside Suzy Batkovic.
Mangakahia used to play in her home country till she was in her late teens.
Apart from her home country, the United States was keen to recruit her for the game.
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Siblings, Parents, and Childhood
Tiana Mangakahia was born under the sign of Taurus on April 21, 1995, in Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia.
She is the only child of Cynthia and Terei Mangakahia.
Terei, in fact, is a member of New Zealand’s indigenous Polynesian people.
He moved to Australia from New Zealand when he was seventeen years old, according to reports.
He also met Cynthia in Australia, and she is a Queensland native.
She also has five brothers, four of them are older than her, and one is younger.
Tiana learned to be strong as she grew up in Brisbane, specifically as a daredevil.
She would play with her brothers, which would make things even more difficult for her.
Tiana showed courage in her actions, whether it was in gaming, biking, or wrestling.
According to her, she and her brothers would frequently climb a 15-foot tall pole near their home.
She even rides about on her brother’s friend’s bike.
She lost the handle’s balance on a downhill during one such bike ride, which ripped open her chin.
She, on the other hand, would be the one beaming.
Similarly, she had no trouble establishing friends because she talked to everyone.
She eventually began bringing home every cat or bird she saw.
Facts of Tiana Mangakahia
| Full Name | Tiana Cynthia Mangakahia |
| Date of Birth | 21 April 1995 |
| Birth Place | Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia |
| Nick Name | None |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Zodiac Sign | Taurus |
| Age | 27 years old (as of July 2021) |
| Height | 5’6″(1.68 meters) |
| Weight | Over 60 kg |
| Hair Color | Dark brown |
| Eye Color | Dark brown |
| Build | Athletic |
| Father’s Name | Terei Mangakahia |
| Mother’s Name | Cynthia Mangakahia |
| Siblings | Four elder brothers and a younger brother |
| Education | Syracuse University |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Boyfriend | Triston Jackson |
| Profession | Basketball player |
| Position | Guard |
| League | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Affiliations | Australian Institute of Sports Townsville Fire |
| Present Team | Syracuse Orange Women’s Basketball team |
| Active Years | 2011-present |
| Net Worth | Not yet earning |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter, YouTube |
| Syracuse University’s Merch | Apparel |
| Last Update | May 2022 |
Net Worth
As of now, Tiana Mangakahia is yet to earn from her career. As a college athlete, she does get a small amount from her gameplays that cover up her expenses.
However, she is set to earn loads from her games in the future, as even now, she is ranked among the highest WNBA players.
The fundamentals of basketball
Tiana has been involved in sports since she was a child, thanks to her brothers.
Her siblings were basketball players, so she learned to play with them.
She was also exposed to competitiveness and noise as a result of growing up in a large family.
Most importantly, she learned to carve out her own place in games and in life since her brothers treated her as an equal.
In addition, their mother enrolled them in a basketball camp with no expectation of them competing at the national or international level.
The most important consideration was their safety.
She was often mistaken for a small child when she first began playing, yet she had incredible strength and speed. With her techniques, she was referred to as a ninja as early as the age of eight.
She was later selected for the under-12 team at the age of nine.
Her mother, on the other hand, pleaded with the coach to take her off the team and keep her in her age group.
When Tiana thinks back to that moment, she agrees with her mother’s decision and believes it formed her into the person she is now.
Basketball Career
Mangakahia used to play in her home country till she was in her late teens.
Apart from her home country, the United States was keen to recruit her for the game.
Hutchinson Community College in Kansas contacted her over Facebook in 2015 to invite her to play in the United States.
In addition, former BYU forward Kalani Purcell, a New Zealand native, led the college recommendations for her.
Having said that, she did come to the United States, but Syracuse had her on their radar long before she enrolled at Hutchinson Community College.
She later sat out a year as an overseas student and also spent her debut season at Hutchinson on the bench.
She then went on to play for Syracuse University and became active with it.
University of Syracuse
Hillsman recruited Tiana to Syracuse when she didn’t play for Hutchinson. As a sophomore, Tiana was a top-10 finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award and was named First-Team All-ACC.
Tiana finished her sophomore year with an average of 17.5 points, 9.8 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Tiana became the fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 career points as she progressed to her junior year.
She averaged 16.9 points, 8.4 assists, and an 88.2 percent free-throw accuracy.
Team National
Apart from her college career, Mangakahia has also participated in international games for her country.
She made her debut at the Australian Institute of Sport, where she was a member of the Townsville Fire alongside Suzy Batkovic.
Overall, the Sapphires served as her international debut. She competed in the 2011 FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship and the 2012 Under-17 World Championship in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Tiana then joined the Gems and will compete in the FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship and the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Lithuania.
She also had the opportunity to make her senior debut with the Opals’ preliminary roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics in April 2019.
Her health, however, was not on her side. She was later named to the Australian Senior Women’s National Team as well.
WNBA
In the 2021 WNBA Draft, the Australian player was undrafted. Despite this, she was invited to the Phoenix Mercury’s training camp.
In less than a month, though, she was waived by the organization. After that, the athlete returned to her homeland, where she joined the Northside Wizards of the NBL1 North, a semi-professional basketball league.
She signed a contract with Dynamo Moscow, a Russian team, after her season with the Wizards ended.
Cancer
Tiana Mangakahia had not expected 2019 to be the year she had. She was expected to play her senior year in Syracuse at the time, but she was injured and missed the entire season.
Her career and games suffered an immediate setback after she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer (invasive ductal carcinoma).
Tiana discovered a lump in her breast before she knew what was wrong with her. Her family had no one to deal with the diagnosis in the heredity until now.
Dr. Jeffrey Kirshner of St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Health Center in Syracuse, New York, was referred to Layer by her head coach, Quentin Hillsman.
As a result, her year 2019 came to a close with several rounds of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy.
She also made time to relax, play, and spend time with her friends.
When Tiana started losing her hair during her early phase of cancer, she would wear wigs.
But the wigs would make it more difficult for her, and later, to encourage her, all her brothers shaved their heads.
Surgery
On November 6, 2019, Tiana underwent five-hour-long surgery to remove her cancerous tumor. Following it, they announced her cancer-free after they didn’t find cancerous cells in her lymph nodes.
However, she does take the pill tamoxifen daily as a preventive measure. Even just after a month from her surgery, she had already commenced playing pickup.
Indeed, it was a reason for her to work even harder than before.
Not to mention, she has already planned to apply for a medical waiver from the NCAA to get a year of eligibility back for the 2020-21 season.
Moreover, her eyes are more fixed on the WNBA now. Besides, Play4Kay, the annual fundraiser for cancer, now holds a much deeper meaning to her rather than just the pink t-shirts.
Personal Life
Currently, Tiana Mangakahia resides in her native land alongside her whole family. To elaborate, her house is more like a resort with beach views from a couple of balconies and the ocean itself just a road across.
According to the sources, Tiana is in a relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Triston Jackson.
Indeed, her social media platforms show no sign of her having a date. However, it is known that the duo had been together ever since their time at Syracuse University.
Additionally, Triston is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams.
Also, he is reported to sign with the team first as an undrafted free agent.
Overall, they are said to have a strong connection going on between the two.
Also Read: 15 Shortest NFL Players in History, Top 7 Warren Spahn Quotes,
Social Media Presence
Apart from the loaded stuff, if your wish to follow and check out her uploads, you can get the details of her social media platforms.
Anyways, Tiana is on Instagram as TianaMangakahia (@tianamangakahia), with 19.7k followers.
In the meantime, she is also on Twitter as TianaMangakahia (@Tianamanga), with 6.5k followers.
Also, you can check out her YouTube channel as TianaMangakahia.
