Former Nigerian national team basketball coach Abdulrahman Mohammed has revealed exclusively to Sports247.ng that home based basketball players are constantly being denied the opportunity to grow and realize their dream because of the poor administrative structure of clubs and the poor state of the country’s leagues especially the premier league.
The seasoned coach who is currently on the books of Gombe Bulls believes that the quality of Nigeria’s Premier Basketball League has been on a downward spiral for several years and the resultant effect is players don’t grow and it affects their chances of getting selected by national team coaches for grade A competitions.
The Nigeria national Basketball team the D’Tigers prosecuted the China 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers with 100% foreign based players which also saw the return of Portland Trail Blazers star Al Farouk Aminu and his brother Alade Aminu.
According to Abdulrahman Mohammed, the national team in the 90’s used to be full of home based players and the potency of the league led to players such as Olumide Oyedeji being drafted into the NBA after playing for local clubs such as Ebun Comets in Lagos. Ejike Ugboaja and Chukwudebiere Maduabum also got drafted into the NBA having formerly played in Nigeria.
Abdulrahma believes that if the premier league is up and running with good facilities and proper administrative management, players will develop fast and will be able to compete for national team slots against their foreign based counterparts.
