What Is WNBA Rookie Aaliyah Nye’s Ethnicity?
Aaliyah Nye was a star college basketball player when she was a member of the Crimson Tide at the University of Alabama. She was selected in the second round of the WNBA Draft with the 13th overall pick by the Las Vegas Aces.
After she was drafted, Aces coach Becky Hammon called Aaliyah “one of the best shooters in the country.” The rookie guard made her professional debut in a preseason game against the Dallas Wings on May 2, 2025. Now, with all the success her team has had this season, fans want to know more about Aaliyah and her life off the court.
Here’s more on her family and what her ethnicity is.
Who are Aaliyah Nye’s parents and siblings?
Aaliyah was born on Aug. 14, 2002, to parents LaQueena Douglas and James Nye. She has two siblings–an older sister, Aazhenii, and a twin sister, Aashawnti.
Athletics run in the Nye family as both her parents played sports. Her father played football at Albion College, and her mother played the sport she came to love so much.
“I did other sports like soccer. I did dance. But I think basketball really spoke to me,” Aaliyah told FightingIllini.com. “My mom played basketball, so I guess it came naturally. I think it really took off when I moved to Michigan and started playing with my high school team and AAU program.”
Aaliyah and her sisters played together on the basketball team at East Lansing High School in Michigan. In her senior year, Aaliyah was named the AP Division 1 State Player of the Year and was the runner-up for Michigan Miss Basketball.
She received more than a dozen scholarship offers and began her collegiate basketball career in 2020 at the University of Illinois. In 2022, she transferred to Alabama.
What is Aaliyah’s ethnicity?
Aaliyah is a tribal citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan, also known as the Gun Lake tribe. The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people in the state. They are headquartered in Bradley, Michigan, and the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Reservation is located in Wayland Township.
Aaliyah is only one of a handful of players of Native American heritage who have played in the WNBA. She started learning about her tribe’s culture and history at a young age.
“We always participated in tribal activities growing up,” the Aces guard shared. “We would be in Indian Ed classes, and we went to our tribe’s reservation, our pow wow. And we would participate in the Michigan Indian Family Olympics. That’s when all tribes come together, and they bring their families and compete in track and field, basketball, archery, and all those types of events.”
She added, “I’m so grateful to have the tribe in my life. They’re just like a second family. I’m not afraid to say I’m Native American. We’re just like one big family … it’s just like the connection … I’m grateful to be one of those people and to stand out for my ancestors like my grandma and my grandfathers.”
