Nigerian basketball opts for grassroots to groom talent

The Amateur Basketball Academies enters the stage at the time the Nigeria’s men’s team is on the verge of failing to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027.

Oliver Ochieng, Marabou News Agency

The Amateur Basketball Academies (ABA) League is on in Abuja, Nigeria, with 20 boys and 20 girls’ teams participating in the pilot competition.

Over 500 young basketballers are competing. The league is designed to identify and develop young talents while improving referee and coaching standards, discipline and teamwork.

Organisers say youth basketball is one of the more effective, low-cost avenues of keeping young Nigerians off streets and drugs, into a talent stream for the Nigerian national basketball teams.

Founder and president of the Amateur Basketball Academies, Abubakar Lucky Aliyu, acknowledged that Nigerian basketball is currently grappling with structural problems, stating that the only durable fix is tapping talent at the grassroots.

He framed Nigeria men’s basketball team, the D’Tigers recent second straight defeat to South Sudan’s Bright Stars in the second round of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup African qualifiers as painful.

“The Falcons disappoint us, our basketball national team disappoint us, so we are begging all the stakeholders to put hands on deck.”

“Please, it is not an era of politicking, it is an era of getting involved so that our game will not die while we are watching. It is a big regret, and I feel the pains of the players because I was once a player, and now we have to go back to our drawing board,” he added.

South Sudan beat Nigeria 82-79 on August 28, two days after losing a 78-62 loss to Cameroon on Wednesday in the opening game of the second round.

Cameroon and South Sudan are top of the qualification campaign with 16 points apiece, while Nigeria are 5th with 14.

Senegal and Ivory Coast are top of the second group with an identical 16 points. The qualification campaign ends in March 2027, with the 2 best placed teams in each group and the best 3rd placed team qualifying for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 in Qatar.

Marabou News Agency

The post Nigerian basketball opts for grassroots to groom talent appeared first on Sports Network Africa.