The Nigeria national basketball team represents

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in men's international

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and it is overseen by the

Nigeria Basketball Federation The Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) is the governing body for men's and women's basketball in Nigeria. NBBF has been an affiliate of FIBA Africa since 1963, and its offices are located in Abuja and Lagos. FIBA competitions The senior men's ...

(NBBF). In March 2021, the global governing body

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

ranked Nigeria as Africa's top men's basketball nation. After the 2016 Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament in Rio, Nigeria was ranked 16th in the

FIBA World Rankings The FIBA Men's World Ranking are FIBA's rankings of national basketball teams. FIBA ranks both men's and women's national teams for both senior and junior competitions. It also publishes combined rankings for all mixed-sex competitions. Not incl ...

, making them the top climber in FIBA rankings from 2015. Nigeria is the only African nation to beat the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Nigeria is also the first African team to qualify for the Summer Olympics through the

FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament The FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, formerly known as the FIBA Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament, is the last qualifying tournament for the Olympic Basketball Tournament. The best non-champions from the different FIBA World zones quali ...

. This was accomplished at the 2012 Event when Nigeria beat the world elite teams of Lithuania and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. In 2015, Nigeria won its first crown as basketball champion of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

History

The history of basketball in Nigeria goes as far back as the late 1950s when Walid Zabadne served as the first basketball coach to train Nigerians. At the time, Nigeria's only basketball court was situated in the Syrian Club in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. Walid Zabadne continued teaching young Nigerians to become basketballers and when Nigeria's basketball federation was organized, he took them to several basketball competitions across Africa. In view of his role as the pioneer of basketball in Nigeria, Walid Zabadne has been deemed "father of Nigerian basketball’’. Also worthy of note is that Zabadne was later made the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation. Nigeria's national basketball team joined

in 1964. Since the mid-1990s, the team has enjoyed unprecedented success, due to an increasing amount of talents from Nigeria as well as an orchestrated recruitment of American

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

and professional players of Nigerian descent. The D'Tigers (as the team is nicknamed) qualified for the

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

, marking only the second time in the country's history that they qualified to the FIBA World Cup. Team Nigeria usually plays its home games at the 3,000-capacity

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2006 FIBA World Championship

Nigeria took part in the

in Japan. They were drawn in Group A with

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, Serbia and Montenegro, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. They surprisingly finished third in Group A, then were narrowly defeated by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 Olympics. They finished the group play with a 1–4 record, with their lone victory coming against

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in their Olympics debut. The team's roster, assembled by coach Ayodele Bakare, primarily comprised former college basketball players.

2016 Summer Olympics

Nigeria qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics tournament as champions of

AfroBasket 2015 AfroBasket 2015 was the 28th edition of the AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. It also served as the qualifying tournament for FIBA Africa at the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament in Brazil. The tournament ...

. They finished at the bottom of Group B, winning one game against

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and losing four games. The team entered the 2016 games with several injured players and little financial support from the Nigerian government.

2020 Summer Olympics

As the top African team at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Nigeria qualified for their third consecutive Olympics berth for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. The team, which included seven NBA players and was led by Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, was called up for training in the United States in June 2021. D'Tigers defeated the

90–87 during an exhibition game in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

on 10 July. The victory, described as an " upset", was the first for an African team against the United States.

Team honours and achievements

Intercontinental *

FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup The FIBA Stanković Continental Champions’ Cup, also known as the FIBA Mini Basketball World Cup, is an international tournament of basketball for men's national teams, that is held annually by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) ...

**Bronze:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, 2016 *

Basketball at the Commonwealth Games Basketball was first included in the Commonwealth Games in the 2006 games in Melbourne and returned as part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Following the 2018 Games, regular full-court basketball was replaced as an optional Co ...

**Fourth-place: 2006 Continental * AfroBasket **Gold Medal: Gold medal africa

2015 **Silver Medal: Silver medal africa

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

2003,

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**Bronze Medal: Bronze medal africa

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

2005,

2011 * All Africa Games **Gold Medal: 2011 **Bronze Medal: 1995,

, 2003, 2007, 2015

Performance table

Olympic Games

FIBA World Cup

FIBA Africa Championship

African Games

*1973 – ? *1987 – ? *1995 – *1999 – *2003 – *2007 – *2011 – *2015 –

FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup

*2013 – *2016 –

Commonwealth Games

*2006 – 4th *2018 – 5th

Team

Current roster

''Roster for the

Afrobasket 2021 FIBA AfroBasket 2021 was the 30th edition of the FIBA AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. The tournament was hosted by Rwanda for the first time. It was originally scheduled to take place between 17 and 29 August 20 ...

.''

Depth chart

Notable players

Several players of the Nigeria national team have had success playing for professional teams, in the NBA, or in Europe, including: * Julius Nwosu * Akin Akingbala * Peter Aluma * Aloysius Anagonye * Tunji Awajobi *

Ike Diogu Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu (born September 11, 1983) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Piratas de La Guaira of the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto in Venezuela. Family and early life Diogu's parents, natives of Nig ...

* Obinna Ekezie * Ebi Ere *

Benjamin Eze Benjamin Ndubuisi Eze (born February 8, 1981) is a Nigerian-Italian former professional basketball player. He is a 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) tall center. Professional career Eze was brought from Nigeria to Russia during the 1998-99 season, where ...

* Ekene Ibekwe *

Ike Iroegbu Ikenna Ugochukwu Iroegbu (born March 14, 1995) is an American-born Nigerian basketball player for Treviso Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Iroegbu played college basketball for Washington State University, and is a member of the Nigerian ...

(born 1995) *

Gani Lawal Gani Oladimeji Lawal Jr. (born November 7, 1988) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Trotamundos in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. He played college basketball for Georgia Tech. High school career During his time at Norcross Hi ...

Michael Olowokandi Michael Olowokandi (born 3 April 1975) is a Nigerian former professional basketball player. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, and raised in London, he played collegiately for the Pacific Tigers in Stockton, California. Nicknamed "The Kandi Man," Olowokandi ...

Olumide Oyedeji Olumide Oyedeji (born 11 May 1981) is a Nigerian professional basketball center who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for three seasons. Professional career Oyedeji played at the 1999 and 2000 Nike Hoop Summits. He was select ...

Ime Udoka Ime Sunday Udoka ( ; born August 9, 1977) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), currently suspended by the team for the ...

Jeff Varem Jeff Varem (born 16 July 1983) is a Nigerian professional basketball player. He formerly played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League. He also played as an import for the Coca-Cola Tigers and the Barako Bull Energy Boosters i ...

Al-Farouq Aminu Al-Farouq Ajiede Aminu (born September 21, 1990) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays internationally with the Nigeria national basketba ...

Festus Ezeli Ifeanyi Festus Ezeli-Ndulue (born October 21, 1989) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player. He previously played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Vanderbilt before being s ...

Hakeem Olajuwon never played for Nigeria at the international senior level, and would eventually play for the

, after becoming a US citizen in 1993.

Past rosters

2009 African Championship: finished 5th among 16 teams Akin Akingbala, Aloysius Anagonye, Chamberlain Oguchi,

Deji Akindele Akindele Jeleel Ayodeji (born April 2, 1983) is a Nigerian professional basketball player for the Halcones de Xalapa of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP). Collegiate career Akindele chose Chicago State over Rutgers, St. Peters ...

, Michael Efevberha, Michael Umeh,

Josh Akognon Joshua Emmanuel Akognon (born February 10, 1986) is a Nigerian–American professional basketball player who last played for Montakit Fuenlabrada of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for Washington State and Cal State Fullerton. Standing ...

, Ebi Ere,

Ejike Ugboaja Ejike Christopher Ugboaja (born 28 May 1985) is a Nigerian professional basketball player who last played for BC Mark Mentors of the Nigerian Premier Basketball League (NPBL). He is also the founder of Ejike Ugboaja Foundation. Professional ca ...

Gabe Muoneke Nnadubem Gabriel Enyinaya Muoneke (born 7 February 1978, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a Nigerian American professional basketball player. Despite being born in the United States, Muoneke represents Nigeria internationally. Muoneke attended Cypress F ...

, Jayson Obazuaye, Benson Egemonye (Coach: John Lucas II) 2011 African Championship: finished 3rd among 16 teams Solomon Tat,

Abubakar Usman Abū Bakr ( ar, أبو بكر ) is an Arabic given name meaning "Father of a Young Camel" (Abu meaning 'Father of' and Bakr meaning 'Young Camel') that is widely used by Sunni Muslims. Other transliterations include Abu Bakar, Abu Bekr, Ebubekir, ...

, Chinedu Onyeuku, Ike Ofoegbu, Michael Umeh,

Stanley Gumut Stanley Gumut (born 21 February 1986) is a Nigerian professional basketball player. He is a native of Jos, Plateau State.Derrick Obasohan,

Ezenwa Ukeagu Ezenwa Ukeagu is a former professional basketball player born in Los Angeles, California. He played for the Washington State University Cougars. He is 6'8 and 253lbs. He was on the Nigerian National Basketball Team in 2011. Early Years U ...

, Jayson Obazuaye,

(Coach: Ayo Bakare) 2012 Summer Olympics: finished 10th among 12 teams

Tony Skinn Tony Oludewa Skinn (born February 8, 1983) is a NigerianAmerican basketball coach and former player. He played guard for the George Mason University Patriots from 2003–2006, later playing professionally for six years. Skinn is currently an as ...

, Ekene Ibekwe,

, Ade Dagunduro, Chamberlain Oguchi, Koko Archibong, Richard Oruche,

, Derrick Obasohan, Alade Aminu,

(Coach: Ayo Bakare) 2020 Olympic roster:

A 15-player roster was announced on 6 July 2021. The final squad was released on 20 July 2021.

Head coaches

* Vladislav Lučić 1975–1980 *

Sam Vincent James Samuel Vincent (born May 18, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. Vincent won the State of Michigan "Mr. Basketball" award in 1981, the first year the award was given. He attended Lansing's Eastern High Sch ...

2004–2006 *

Sani Ahmed Sani Ahmed is a Nigerian professional basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shoo ...

2006 * Robert McCullum 2007 * John Lucas II 2009 *

2010, 2013 * Ayo Bakare 2011–2014 * William Voigt 2015–2017 * Alexander Nwora 2017–present Associate Headcoach from 2020–present. * Mike Brown 2020–2022 * Alan Major July 2022–present

Kit

Manufacturer

2019–present:

Peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...

References

External links

*
FIBA Profile
at FIBA Archive
Afrobasket – Nigeria Men National Team

Videos

Nigeria – Team Highlights – AfroBasket 2015
Youtube.com video {{Nigeria squad 2011 FIBA Africa Championship

National team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Men's national basketball teams

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

1964 establishments in Nigeria