BREAKING: NBBF names 12-man D’Tigers squad for FIBA World Cup qualifiers

The Nigeria Basketball Federation on Tuesday released a 12-man roster for the male national basketball team who will represent Nigeria in the third window of the FIBA African World Cup qualifiers.

The NBBF also announced that the team will be coached by a former coach of Kigali-based Patriots BBC, Alan Major, who will be in charge of the team for the duration of the qualifying round, assisted by Ogoh Odaudu.

The 12-man squad boasts a mixture of home-based players from some of the top basketball clubs in the country, the NBA and NBA G-League, and across Europe.

Nigeria, who currently sit top of the pile in the Africa rankings, will participate in the third window of the qualifiers scheduled to hold in Kigali, Rwanda from June 27 to July 5, 2022, after a ban on international tournaments by the Federal Government was lifted.

The team includes 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).

Other players listed in the squad are Chimezie Metu (Sacramento Kings), Victor Koko (Rivers Hoopers), Christian Mekowolu (Casademont Zaragoza, Spain), T. K. Edogi (Kolin, Czech Republic) and Emmanuel Omogbo (H.Izrael, Israel).

According to the NBBF, Major will deputise for the team’s Head Coach, Mike Brown, who was recently named Coach of the Sacramento Kings.

D’Tigers sit top of Group A with five points from three games and will start their campaign against Cape Verde on Friday, July 1 and take on Mali on Saturday.

Nigeria will battle Uganda in the last game of the window on Sunday, July 3 at the BK Arena in Kigali.

In 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.