ATLANTA (FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018) - The Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) on Friday named Otis Hughley as the head coach of their national team for the upcoming FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018 in Spain.

Hughley replaces his fellow American Sam Vincent, who was relieved of his duties on Friday.

According to the NBA.com, Hughley served as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings after coaching for seven years (2004-2010) at LeFlore High School in Mobile, Alabama.

At the international level, Hughley led the Chinese Taipei national team to the last four of the FIBA Asia Women's Championship 2015, where they lost to Korea in the Third-Place game.

The African champions are currently holding a training camp in Atlanta, in an attempt to build a competitive team to face Argentina, Turkey, and Australia in the Group Phase of the World Cup to take place from September 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain.  

According to the NBBF chairman Musa Kida, they needed to take a proactive step in the interest of the team who are preparing for the World Cup.

"We needed to fill the vacuum immediately and continue our preparation for Spain," he explained.

"For many, parting ways with Vincent at this time was a difficult decision we had to take in the overall and long-term interest of the team."

Kida continued: “We still have about 50 days to train and get ready for the competition and we are confident that the time frame will be enough for any good coach to train and shape a team into a strong contender.”

This year's World Cup marks Nigeria's first appearance in the tournament since 2006.

FIBA