Basketball in Africa

by Pius Ayinor
Lagos

The annual Big Man Camp put together by Masai Ujiri and Godwin Owinje of RadarHoops will hold at the Lagos National Stadium from May 15th to 18th.

The programme for the especially big sized junior players has held in the country for the past for years in conjunction with the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

Masai, a former Nigerian national team player and one of the current coaches for national junior teams programmes told THISDAYSports from his base in Toronto that his commitment to developing the Nigerian players at the right age remains unwavering.
"The kids are getting better and more kids continue to crossover to high school in the states and the track record of high major players continues to grow."Most importantly, they continue to strive in school, using this opportunity as a tool for higher education. And we are really touched by this.
"As you may know 11 out of the 12 kids we sent to BWB (Basketball without Borders) Africa 2007 made the All Star Game. Emmanuel Negedu represented us well at the Hoopsummit game and so did Raphael Akpejiori at the Jordan game. With players like these you are encouraged to do more.
"Our goal remains developing and growing the game of basketball in Nigeria with a lot of concentration on the youth. And that's why coaches taking their time to come and teach in our camp mean a lot to us and we hope to make their experience a great one," Masai said. Masai, who is Director of Global Scouting for Toronto Raptors, also run a separate for other positions other the Big Man Camp targeted at the power forwards and centres.
The foreign based coaches for the event are Joe Touomou (NBA), Myke Scholl (Pistons), Rob Jackson ( DC Bluedevils), Will Voight (Spurs), Adam Fillipi (Lakers), Simon Cote ( Nuggets), Willy Chapman (Veritas Sports Academy), Dustin Clark ( Texas A&M) Peter Gash (Lasale University), Patrick Engelbrecht and Todd Bozeman (Morgan St), Tim Conolley (Wizards).
The Nigerian coaches are Adeka Daudu (Nigeria), Scott Nnaji (Customs), Michael Akuboh (ABU), Alex Owochio (Warriors), Peter Ahmedu (Warriors Academy), Aderemi Adewumi (First Bank, Nigeria) and Emma Odah (Abuja)
The Camp Directors listed include Sam Ahmedu (Grizzles, Nike), Godwin Owinje (Radarhoops), Ugo Udezue (BDA), Isah Umar (Nigeria) and Oliver Johnson (Ahmadu Bello University)