Sports
Rio: Al-Farouq, Ezeli dump D’Tigers as Voigt picks team
Nigerian Olympic basketball team will be heading to the Rio 2016 Olympics with without the duo of Portland Trail Blazers big men Al-Farouq Aminu and Festus Ezeli.
Aminu reportedly withdrew due to issues with the Nigerian Basketball Federation, while it was previously reported Ezeli would not play due to the federation not reaching an agreement with the Blazers on insurance of his NBA contract.
Aminu, who played four years ago when D’Tigers in London had been with the team in the build-up to Rio but will reportedly sit out due to insurance issues.
His brother, Alade Aminu, will suit up for Nigeria at a second straight Olympics as will Chamberlain ‘Champ’ Oguchi, the Most Valuable Player of last year’s tournament and a 2012 Olympian.
Nigeria will have nine of the 12 players that reached the top of the AfroBasket 2015 podium when they run onto the hardwood to face Argentina in their first game at the Olympics.
The three players that did not feature last year but are now on the roster are Josh Akognon, Ebi Ere and Ekene Ibekwe.
The team coached by Will Voigt is led by former NBA big man Ike Diogu, who paced the team with 14.8 points per game at London 2012, where Nigerian went 1-4 and failed to advance out of group play.
The team does include Aminu’s older brother, Alade Aminu, Detroit Pistons second-round draft pick Michael Gbinije and former NBA point guard Ben Uzoh.
Nigeria opens group play in Rio against Argentina on Sunday.
Nigeria’s 12-player roster for Rio 2016: Josh Akognon, Alade Aminu, Ike Diogu, Ebi Ere, Michael Gbinije, Ekene Ibekwe, Shane Lawal, Andy Ogide, Chamberlain Oguchi, Stan Okoye, Michael Umeh, Ben Uzoh
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