As Nigeria look to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China, crew captain Ike Diogu reaffirmed his ardour to play for Nigeria on the the game’s finest stage.
In his nationwide crew debut on the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Match (OQT) in Venezuela, Diogu lined up alongside a few of Nigeria’s best avid avid gamers – together with Al Farouq Aminu, Tony Skinn, Ade Dagunduro, and Chamberlain Oguchi, merely to say just a few – because of the crew took the world by storm.
In that event, they not solely beat European powerhouse Lithuania and Greece nonetheless turned the first-ever African nation to advance to the Olympic Video video video games by way of OQT.
A FIBA AfroBasket 2015 title – though he sat out your entire event ensuing from a leg harm suffered just a few days before the beginning of the rivals – and two consecutive Olympic appearances give Diogu a way of worthiness.
Nonetheless, there's nonetheless an accomplishment lacking in his illustrious occupation: collaborating in on the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
In February, Nigeria will go up in opposition to Uganda, Mali, and Rwanda in Group B of the primary spherical of the African Qualifiers. Inside the event that they end all through the extreme three, they could advance to the 12-team second of the Qualifiers.
“As I’ve all the time talked about, my ardour is to proceed to symbolize Nigeria for so long as I can. So I’m excited to be the captain and await a extraordinarily worthwhile run,” Diogu advised FIBA.Basketball.
“The World Cup is a huge goal of ours. We've not carried out in a single [since 2006]. So we've to you must undoubtedly place our greatest foot ahead all through the Qualifiers not take one factor with no consideration in the slightest degree. So Will most likely be a problem with the mannequin new ideas nonetheless one we're up for.”
Two months to this point, at FIBA AfroBasket 2017, he did considerably bit of every half for his crew, important all avid avid gamers in scoring with a indicate of 22.zero parts per sport and grabbing a team-best eight.7 rebounds.
Whereas Nigeria fell to hosts Tunisia all through the Ultimate, Diogu’s have an effect on and worth had been acknowledged as he was named the event’s MVP.
Attempting forward of the Qualifiers, Diogu outlined how and why Nigeria turned Africa’s highest ranked crew.
“Nigeria has an unimaginable expertise pool and since there are such a lot of good avid avid gamers that’s what makes it so sturdy to select from. Nonetheless after we lastly saved a core group collectively and constructed the cohesion that you just simply want, we had been able to shock of us and will massive video video video games and I nonetheless assume of us haven't seen Nigeria’s finest crew with its finest avid avid gamers on account of that may most likely be a extraordinarily scary sight,” he talked about.
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