The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has released a 12-man roster for the third window of the FIBA African World Cup qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda between June 27 and July 5, 2022.
The team made up of Ikenna Ndugba (Greensboro Swarm, NBA G League), Uchenna Iroegbu (Free agent), Michael Okiki (Gombe Bulls), Ben Emelogu (Rouen Metropolitan, France), Michael Oriakhi (Rivers Hoopers), Michael Gbinijie (Santa Cruz Warriors, NBA G League) and Ibe Agu (Customs, Abuja) will be coached by Alan Major and assisted by Ogoh Odaudu.
Other players on the list are Chimezie Metu (Sacramento Kings), Victor Koko (Rivers Hoopers), Christian Mekowolu (Casademont Zaragoza, Spain), TK Edogi (Kolin, Czech Republic) and Emmanuel Omogbo (H.Izrael, Israel). NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida announced that Major will deputise for the team’s Head Coach, Mike Brown that just got named Coach of the Sacramento Kings.
Also Read: WAFCON 2022: We Are Not Focusing Only On Super Falcons –Banyana boss, Ellis
Currently ranked first in Africa, Nigeria will open its campaign against Cape Verde on Friday, 1 July before taking on Mali on Saturday. The last game will be against Uganda on Sunday, 3 July at the BK arena in the capital city of Kigali. Nigeria sit atop group A with five points from three games.
During this window, 16 teams will compete for the second leg of matches earlier decided in November 2021 and March 2022.
The top three teams from each group will advance to the second round where each team will play six games. The two top teams in each group, along with the best third-placed team, will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
4 Comments
The D’ Tigress ladies would have been better off switching allegiance to Bahrain, or any other country that would have them, just like some of our athletes have already done.
It’s hard not to feel so bad for this poor ladies.
Incredible to think that years of work, sweat and tears have been flushed down the toilet because of the staggering greed of the very people who should be protecting these ladies’ interests!
The stunning fallout of the decision to PUNISH EXCELLENCE by banning a successful, trophy-winning team is that Nigeria now misses out on the next female world cup and female Olympics basketball.
Goodness gracious.
I dont think you are right. They are Still going to olympic
How are they still going to the Olympics? Are you a prophet? They still need to qualify, and I’m sure the same girls who have their all to qualify for the WC, only to be messed up by the system, may not even bother playing for Nigeria again!
“In a letter directed to the federation’s presidency about the ban, the FIBA stated that the decision to withdraw Nigeria from international completion for two years would attract further consequences.
The body stated that the withdrawal of Nigeria from the world cup would mean the team will not participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic qualification process and the FIBA AfroBasket 2025”.
Unless FIBA decides otherwise, the situation on ground is that the D’ Tigress are set to miss the coming world cup, the 2024 Olympics, and the 2025 Afrobasket tournament, which they’ve won 3 times in a row, and are the current defending champions.
The next step is for efforts to be directed at getting FIBA to either lift the ban, or at least “soften” it. Even if the world cup is no longer possible, the Olympics and the 2025 Afrobasket might still be salvaged.
Additionally, the NBBF will need to reach out to the players and revive their commitment to Nigeria. The first step would be payment of any and all entitlements owed to them. Then, assurances will need to be made going forward that this kind of thing will not happen again in the future.
It is up to our NBBF and other stakeholders to MOVE ON THIS ISSUES QUICKLY.