By Maxwell Kumoye and Oluwatobiloba Zeal-Adepetu Kumoye
Nigeria’s men’s basketball team D’Tigers are putting their acts together for the crucial 2025 Men’s Afrobasket Qualifiers billed for Libya this month.
The team coached by Abdulrahman Mohammed has their first training session at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja Tuesday and would have more drillings before flying out to Tripoli the Libyan capital on February 16. The invited 13 foreign players will join the party and have their final rehearsals for the qualifiers.
Three new faces have been added to the roster by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). They’re Favour Aboje of Nile University Abuja, Israel Philip from Nigeria Customs and Rivers’ Hoopers Johnson Anaye.
A former D’Tigers shooting guard with over ten years of experience, Stanley Gumut, said, the inclusion of Favour Aboje, is a plus to the team: “He deserved it, he is one of the many talents on the domestic league.”
The trio were called up to fill the void left by the absence of River’s duo of Michael Okiki and Patrick Abah as well as Azeez Sulaimon of Hoops N’ Read.
We gathered that the players could not make it to the Abuja camp of D’Tigers due various reasons ranging from academical to personal.
The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) is elated with the turnout and output of players as the camp opened on Tuesday.
The Federation says the team is focused and determined to achieve success in Tripoli. “We appreciate the continued support of fans and stakeholders,” they said.