Nigeria unveil Tokyo 2020 roster with eight NBA stars
ABUJA (Nigeria) - Nigeria have unveiled their final 12-man roster for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with four players expected to debut for the D'Tigers.
ABUJA (Nigeria) - Nigeria have unveiled their final 12-man roster for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with four players expected to debut for the D'Tigers.
Nigeria head coach Mike Brown announced the D'Tigers' final cut on Monday after four weeks of training camp in Las Vegas and Oakland.
Nigeria had announced a 49-man preliminary squad, before trimming it to 16 players a week ago.
On the West Coast, the winners of the 2015 FIBA AfroBasket sealed two wins out of three warm-up games including a 90-87 victory against Olympic reigning champions USA.
Brown kept five members of the Nigerian team that finished 3-2 at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China but released Stan Okoye, Ben Uzoh, Ike Diogu and Michael Gbinije - the only four Olympians on the preliminary squad.
| Nigeria Team for the Tokyo Olympics | |||
| Precious Achiuwa | Calab Agada | Obi Emegano | Chimezie Metu |
| Ike Nwamu | Jordan Nwora | Jahlil Okafor | Josh Okogie |
| Kezie Okpala | Miye Oni | Ekpe Udoh | Nnamdi Vincent |
Miye Oni, Jahlil Okafor, Kezie Okpala and Precious Achiuwa will be wearing the D'Tigers jersey for the first time at official games, while Jordan Nwora, who is competing in the NBA Finals with the Milwaukee Bucks, will join the team at a later stage, the Nigerian Basketball Federation announced.
In their third straight Olympic Games appearance, Nigeria have been drawn Group B alongside Australia, Germany and Italy.
Eight of the 12 Nigeria players featured for National Basketball Association (NBA) teams last season, while Ekpe Udoh who built his name for himself in Europe, has also played in the league.
Non-NBA players include Obi Emegano (Fuenlabrada, Spain), Caleb Agada (Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Israel), Ike Nwamu (BC Samara), and Caleb Agada (Hapoel Be’er Sheva).
The Nigerians are the second team - after the USA - with the most NBA players in Tokyo.
The West African nation had made their Olympic debut at the London 2012 Games before making it to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
D'Tigers, who made their Olympics debut at the 2012 London Games, head to Tokyo aiming to become the first African team to advance to the knockout stages of the competition.
FIBA