'Business as usual' for new Opals captain Ezi Magbegor

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New Australian Opals captain Ezi Magbegor declared it was business as usual after earning the ultimate recognition in Australian women’s basketball.

Seattle Storm WNBA star Magbegor, 27, was named captain of Australia ahead of tonight’s 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup opener against Puerto Rico at 7.30pm (AEST).

The 1.93m (6'4") centre was promoted after Sami Whitcomb was forced out of the tournament with a knee injury last week.

“Sandy (Brondello) kind of said it, ‘Everyone’s kind of a leader on this team’, so not changing too much,” Magbegor said.

“Just being able to see what my teammates need, be more of a leader, a lead-by-example kind of player on the court.

“I just want to be that person that’s reliable, consistent for my team, and just be there for whatever anyone needs and just being an extension of Sandy and supporting my teammates.

“With my kind of personality, I’m definitely an observer, and I feel like I’ve, over the years, just watched different leadership styles.

“Having Jenna, and then Tess and Sami, just learning that you can be a different type of leader.

“You don’t have to be the same, and I think I kind of hopefully took things off of each of them, and they’ve definitely prepared me for this moment.

“But still learning and still leaning on the rest of my teammates as well.

“I definitely give credit to Jenna (O’Hea), Tess (Madgen), and Sami (Whitcomb) too, and Cayla (George) as well.

“Cayla definitely was someone who took me under her wing, and although she wasn’t officially captain, she definitely was a huge leader for this group.

Magbegor has played 41 times for Australia, including two Olympic Games (2021 and 2024) and two World Cups (2018 and 2022).

Head coach Brondello told Basketball Australia: “Ezi and I have been on a very long journey together.

"She made her first Opals team as an 18-year-old in 2018. It’s been an amazing career, just to watch her evolve as a player but also the leader she is.

“I know she is going to lead this team the right way, just like our former captains have in Sami and Madge.”

Magbegor debuted at the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Australia claimed the silver medal, losing to Team USA 73-56 in the final. The Opals won bronze in 2022.

Magbegor is a WNBA champion with the Storm (2020), a WNBA All-Defensive First Team member (2024), and a three-time second-team member (2022, 2023, and 2025).

Every Australian pool game in Berlin is at 7.30 pm (AEST), which means an 11.30 am tip-off local time.

Magbegor revealed the Opals had been getting in early practices to make sure they were ready to go.

“This one today actually was a pretty early one,” she said.

“But we’re definitely thankful for this one as opposed to getting up tomorrow and not being ready for the game.

“We feel good. We know all of our games are at 11:30, and so nothing new, and just trying to prepare and acclimatise to that time.”