Nigeria men's national basketball team

The Nigeria national basketball team represents Nigeria in men's international basketball and it is overseen by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). It is generally considered to be one of the best national basketball teams in the FIBA Africa zone, along with Angola and Senegal. Nigeria has been ranked 16th in the FIBA World Rankings since the 2016 Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament in Rio, making them the top climber in FIBA rankings from 2015.[2]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Nigeria women's national basketball team.

 Nigeria
FIBA ranking23 (3 March 2020)[1]
Joined FIBA1964
FIBA zoneFIBA Africa
National federationNigeria Basketball Federation
CoachMike Brown
Alexander Nwora
Nickname(s)D'Tigers
Olympic Games
Appearances2
FIBA World Cup
Appearances3
AfroBasket
Appearances18
Medals Gold: (2015)
Silver: (1997, 1999, 2003, 2017)
Bronze: (1995, 2005, 2011)
All Africa Games
Appearances8
Medals Gold: (2011)
Bronze: (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015)

Nigeria is the only African nation to ever qualify for the Summer Olympics through the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. This was accomplished at the 2012 Event when Nigeria beat the world elite teams of Lithuania and Greece. In 2015, Nigeria won its first crown as basketball champion of Africa.

History

The history of basketball in Nigeria goes as far back as the late 1950s when Walid Zabadne served as the first basketball coach to train Nigerians. At the time, Nigeria's only basketball court was situated in the Syrian Club. Walid Zabadne continued teaching young Nigerians to become basketballers and when Nigeria's basketball federation was organized, he took them to several basketball competitions across Africa. In view of his role as the pioneer of basketball in Nigeria, Walid Zabadne has been deemed “father of Nigerian basketball’’. Also worthy of note is that Zabadne was later made the president of the Nigerian basketball federation.

Nigeria's national basketball team joined FIBA in 1964. Recently, the team has enjoyed success, due to an increasing amount of talents from Nigeria as well as an orchestrated recruitment of American college and professional players of Nigerian descent. A team dominated by Nigerian-Americans qualified for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, marking only the second time in the country's history that they qualified to the FIBA World Cup. The national basketball team of Nigeria usually play their home games at the 3,000-capacity Indoor Sports Hall in Lagos.[3][4]

Eight players on the team that represented Nigeria at the 2009 FIBA AfroBasket tournament were born in the United States. Nigeria also qualified to the 2012 Summer Olympics.

2006 FIBA World Championship

Nigeria took part in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan. They were drawn in Group A with Argentina, France, Lebanon, Serbia and Montenegro, and Venezuela. They surprisingly finished third in Group A, then were narrowly defeated by Germany in the Round of 16. Overall they finished 14th, as they achieved the same record as the defending world champion Serbia and Montenegro.

2012 Summer Olympics

Nigeria competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They finished the group play with a 1–4 record, with their victory coming against Tunisia, making the first ever Olympic game the first ever Olympic victory.

Performance table

Olympic Games
Year Position Tournament Host
2012102012 Summer OlympicsLondon, United Kingdom
2016112016 Summer OlympicsRio de Janeiro, Brazil
2020Qualified2020 Summer OlympicsTokyo, Japan

FIBA World Cup
Year Position Tournament Host
1998131998 FIBA World ChampionshipAthens, Greece
2006142006 FIBA World ChampionshipJapan
2019172019 FIBA Basketball World CupChina
2023To be determined2023 FIBA Basketball World CupPhilippines, Japan and Indonesia

FIBA Africa Championship
Year Position Tournament Host
1965–FIBA Africa Championship 1965Tunis, Tunisia
1968–FIBA Africa Championship 1968Casablanca, Morocco
1970–FIBA Africa Championship 1970Alexandria, Egypt
197212FIBA Africa Championship 1972Dakar, Senegal
1974–FIBA Africa Championship 1974Bangui, Central African Republic
1975–FIBA Africa Championship 1975Alexandria, Egypt
19786FIBA Africa Championship 1978Dakar, Senegal
198011FIBA Africa Championship 1980Rabat, Morocco
1981–FIBA Africa Championship 1981Mogadishu, Somalia
1983–FIBA Africa Championship 1983Alexandria, Egypt
19857FIBA Africa Championship 1985Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
19878FIBA Africa Championship 1987Tunis, Tunisia
1989–FIBA Africa Championship 1989Luanda, Angola
19925FIBA Africa Championship 1992Cairo, Egypt
1993–FIBA Africa Championship 1993Nairobi, Kenya
1995FIBA Africa Championship 1995Algiers, Algeria
1997FIBA Africa Championship 1997Dakar, Senegal
1999FIBA Africa Championship 1999Angola
20015FIBA Africa Championship 2001Casablanca, Morocco
2003FIBA Africa Championship 2003Alexandria, Egypt
2005FIBA Africa Championship 2005Algeria
20075FIBA Africa Championship 2007Angola
20095FIBA Africa Championship 2009Libya
2011FIBA Africa Championship 2011Antananarivo, Madagascar
20137FIBA Africa Championship 2013Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
2015FIBA Africa Championship 2015Radès, Tunisia
2017AfroBasket 2017Senegal/Tunisia

African Games
See also: Basketball at the African Games
  • 1973 : ?
  • 1987 : ?
  • 1995 :
  • 1999 :
  • 2003 :
  • 2007 :
  • 2011 :
  • 2015 :
  • 2019 : To be determined

FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup
See also: FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup
  • 2013:
  • 2016:

Commonwealth Games
See also: Basketball at the Commonwealth Games
  • 2006 : 4th
  • 2018 : 5th

Team honours and achievements

Intercontinental

Continental

Team

Current roster
Nigeria national basketball team – 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameAge – Date of birthHeightClubCtr.
PG 1 Iroegbu, Ike 24 – (1995-03-14)14 March 1995 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Lietkabelis Panevėžys
PG 4 Uzoh, Ben 31 – (1988-03-18)18 March 1988 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Caballeros de Culiacán
SG 5 Okoye, Stan 28 – (1991-04-10)10 April 1991 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Gran Canaria
PF 6 Diogu, Ike 35 – (1983-09-11)11 September 1983 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Shimane Susanoo Magic
SF 7 Aminu, Al-Farouq 28 – (1990-09-21)21 September 1990 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Orlando Magic
C 8 Udoh, Ekpe 32 – (1987-05-20)20 May 1987 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Beijing Ducks
PF 10 Metu, Chimezie 22 – (1997-03-22)22 March 1997 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) San Antonio Spurs
C 13 Zanna, Talib 28 – (1990-10-01)1 October 1990 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Ironi Nes Ziona
SG 20 Okogie, Josh 20 – (1998-09-01)1 September 1998 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Minnesota Timberwolves
PG 22 Vincent, Gabe 23 – (1996-06-14)14 June 1996 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Stockton Kings
SF 33 Nwora, Jordan 20 – (1998-09-09)9 September 1998 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Louisville Cardinals
C 50 Eric, Michael 31 – (1988-06-24)24 June 1988 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) Saski Baskonia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 31 August 2019

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Ekpe Udoh Micheal Eric
PF Ike Diogu Chimezie Metu Talib Zanna
SF Al-Farouq Aminu Stan Okoye Jordan Nwora
SG Josh Okogie Gabe Vincent Nnamdi
PG Ben Uzoh Ike Iroegbu

Head coaches

Notable players

Several players of the Nigeria national team have had success playing for professional teams, in the NBA, or in Europe, including:

Hakeem Olajuwon never played for Nigeria at the international senior level,[8] and would eventually play for the United States, after becoming a US citizen in 1993.

Past rosters

2009 African Championship: finished 5th among 16 teams

Akin Akingbala, Aloysius Anagonye, Chamberlain Oguchi, Deji Akindele, Michael Efevberha, Michael Umeh, Josh Akognon, Ebi Ere, Ejike Ugboaja, Gabe Muoneke, Jayson Obazuaye, Benson Egemonye (Coach: John Lucas II)

2011 African Championship: finished 3rd among 16 teams

Solomon Tat, Ime Udoka, Abubakar Usman, Chinedu Onyeuku, Ike Ofoegbu, Michael Umeh, Stanley Gumut, Derrick Obasohan, Ejike Ugboaja, Ezenwa Ukeagu, Jayson Obazuaye, Olumide Oyedeji (Coach: Ayo Bakare)

2012 Summer Olympics: finished 10th among 12 teams

Tony Skinn, Ekene Ibekwe, Ike Diogu, Al-Farouq Aminu, Ade Dagunduro, Chamberlain Oguchi, Koko Archibong, Richard Oruche, Ejike Ugboaja, Derrick Obasohan, Alade Aminu, Olumide Oyedeji (Coach: Ayo Bakare)

Kit

Manufacturer

2019: Peak

gollark: ++magic py ```pythonif bot.voice: await bot.voice.disconnect()bot.voice = await ctx.author.voice.channel.connect()source = discord.FFmpegOpusAudio("http://localhost:7778/", options=["-c", "copy"])bot.voice.play(source)```
gollark: ++magic py ```pythonif bot.voice: await bot.voice.disconnect()bot.voice = await ctx.author.voice.channel.connect()source = discord.FFmpegOpusAudio("http://localhost:7778/", args=["-c", "copy"])bot.voice.play(source)```
gollark: ++magic py ```pythonif bot.voice: await bot.voice.disconnect()bot.voice = await ctx.author.voice.channel.connect()source = discord.FFmpegPCMAudio("http://localhost:7778/")bot.voice.play(source)```
gollark: ++magic py ```pythonif bot.voice: await bot.voice.disconnect()```
gollark: ++magic py ```pythonif bot.voice: await bot.voice.disconnect()bot.voice = await ctx.author.voice.channel.connect()source = discord.FFmpegAudio("http://localhost:7778/", args=["-ac", "1", "-b:a", "64k"])bot.voice.play(source)```

See also

References
  1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  2. "FIBA rankings". FIBA. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  3. https://medium.com/@TemidayoOnifade/the-need-for-proper-basketball-arena-s-in-nigeria-b30c893d65c2
  4. https://punchng.com/lagos-ready-to-take-over-surulere-national-stadium-ambode/
  5. "NBBF hires Will Voigt to lead D'Tigers to Afrobasket and All African Games; may lead team to Rio 2016 Olympic Games". Basketball. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  6. http://punchng.com/afrobasket-nbbf-appoints-alex-nwora-as-dtigers-coach/
  7. https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/04/warriors-assistant-mike-brown-will-coach-nigeria-in-2020-olympics-report/
  8. "Forget it, Nigeria. Victor Oladipo is gone!". Basketball. Retrieved 16 September 2015.

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