As part of its preparation towards the 25th Africa Nations Championship for Men scheduled for Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya from August 5 to August 15, the Nigeria Basketball Federation has invited ten home based players to a national mini-camp in Kaduna to give them an opportunity to compete for a place on the national team.
The camp will hold from June 18 to June 21 under the supervision of the national team assistant coach, Sani Ahmed.
The players comprise five guards, three forwards and two centres. They include Oseer Ikyator (Ebun Comets), Mike Oheiro (Islanders), Abdulrahman Mohammed (Nigeria Customs), Usman Abubakar (Niger Potters), Dike Azuoma (Islanders) and Ibrahim Yusuf (Kano Pillars).
Others are Stanley Gumut (Plateau Peaks), Edem Ekpenyong (Union Bank), Namban Nimrod (Plateau Peaks) and Auwal Zanna (Kano Pillars).
D'Tigers' assistant coach Sani Ahmed told FIBA AFRICA that the hitch that caused the delay in the commencement of the camping has been overcome.
"We had some little technical issue with the training venue but that has been sorted out and with that we'll hold the programme this weekend. It's a short one and we hope to be well on time before the main camping begins in Houston," Ahmed said.
The main camp will open in USA on June 26th. The camping will form the major part of the first phase of camping. By the details of the national camping schedule, the June camping will take a break on July 1 to enable the players in camp take part in the NBA Summer League. The first part of the camping will feature 24 players based abroad.
"The Houston first stage is for the 24 players based abroad that have been screened and selected. Everybody is to get a chance to cross to the next level," the associate head coach Masai Ujiri said.
When the players return on July 20 only 14 of the original 24-man list will return as the team will be trimmed down. The 14 selected players from the Houston camp are expected to form the backbone of the final team of D'Tigers to Tripoli.
In a related development, Nike, the sports equipment providers for the national teams, has shipped all the gear for use by the national team camp which opens in Houston, Texas, USA on June 25. Another shipment is expected in Nigeria soon.