FIBA ranking Nickname(s) D'Tigers Appearances 2 Coach Will Voigt Joined FIBA 1964 | FIBA zone FIBA Africa Appearances 2 Appearances 17 Location Nigeria | |
 | ||
National federation Nigeria Basketball Federation | ||
The Nigerian national basketball team represents Nigeria in international competitions. It is overseen by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).
Contents
- History
- 2006 FIBA World Championship
- 2012 Summer Olympics
- African Games
- Commonwealth Games
- Current roster
- Head coaches
- Notable players
- Past rosters
- Manufacturer
- References
It is generally considered to be one of the best national basketball teams in the FIBA Africa zone, along with Angola and Senegal. Nigeria will be ranked 16th in the FIBA World Rankings after the 2016 Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament in Rio, making them the top climber in FIBA rankings from last year.
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.
As of 2015, Nigeria is Africa's reigning basketball champion.
History
Basketball in Nigeria started in the late 50's by a man named Walid Zabadne. He taught and showed Nigerians how to play the game of basketball in the only basketball court in the country at the time located in the Syrian Club. Once the basketball federation in Nigeria was established, Walid would take these young players around Africa to various tournaments. Walid Zabadne eventually became the president of the Nigerian basketball federation and is known as the father of basketball in Nigeria.
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.
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 Olympic Games. 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.
African Games
Commonwealth Games
Current roster
The following is the Nigeria roster for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Captain Olumide Oyedeji quit the squad due to personal problems.
Head coaches
Notable players
Several players of the Nigerian national team have had success playing for professional teams, in the NBA, or in Europe, including:
Hakeem Olajuwon never played for the Nigerian team at senior level, and would eventually play for the United States, after becoming a US citizen in 1993.
Past rosters
Scroll down to see more.Manufacturer
2015: Nike