Nigeria looking beyond Qualifiers in Accra – Onyenabor
Nigeria’s U16 will be making an attempt to return to the championship after missing out of the 2021 edition held in Egypt.
ACCRA (Ghana) – Nigeria’s U16 team are making an attempt to return to the championship after missing out of the 2021 edition held in Egypt.
The FIBA Africa Zone 3 Qualifiers is the key for the higher prize and Nigeria's head coach Humphrey Fubara Onyanabor is taking nothing for granted despite having his eyes set on making it all the way to Tunisia for the Final Round.
After screening camps held in Abuja and Lagos respectively, Onyenabor had his 12-man roster released and he says that he has the belief that his players will get the job done effectively.
He told FIBA.basketball in chat that while not taking any of his opponents for granted, he believes that his side is battle ready.
He says his immediate target is to get the Zone qualification. "First and foremost is to qualify Nigeria for the African championship where we will have the opportunity to fight for a ticket for the Under 17 World Cup.
There, we hope for Nigeria to have a very good representation and to show the world our brand of basketball."
From his perspective, Onyenabor insists that his team is better prepared this time around more than four year ago. While not trying to down play the strength of other countries in the competition, Onyenabor insists there are no pushovers.
"There are no pushovers in African basketball. Every country in the continent have grassroots program and the game is developing rapidly but you can’t look over the likes of the Egypt, Mali, and Senegal."
"If we had seen this qualifier as a walk over, I don’t think the federation would have wasted time and resources to put the team in camp."
He confesses that selecting the 12-man team was not really easy. "It all started in Abuja where the federation directed all players within the age category residing in the north to gather and those in the southern part did same in Lagos. At the end of the exercise, 12 players were selected from each centre.
He note that with the amount of talents available it was not easy getting the final team but that at the end, he and his crew picked the best players in each position.
The players that made the squad are Adielle Warship Samuel, Okebe Umume Devine, Eric Cheerish Oswe-Oswes-eni, Aaron Livingstone and Jethniel Joseph Killian.
Others are Babatunde Abdulsamad Adesina, Sambo Abraham Nadabu, Saleh Haruna, Iwundu Daniel Chibuzor, Nwabude Success, Opara Delight Daberechukwu and Uvwo Lewis.
FIBA