Benin begins rebuilding of the national men's team with recall of foreign-based players

COTONOU (Benin) – The sporadic rise of South Sudan in African and world basketball has inspired other smaller nations and Benin Republic is just one of them.

The West African nation has only one appearance in the history of the FIBA AfroBasket and making a return since their 9th place finish way back in 1974 - when Central Africa Republic was host - is one thing that is paramount to the leadership of the country's Basketball Federation.

Determined to rank among the big basketball nations to compete with the dominance of Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire in FIBA Africa Zone 3, and by extension on the African continent, the federation has set machinery in motion to build a strong senior men's team that will stand the test of time.

To achieve its goal, the federation under the leadership of Ismahinl Onifade embarked on a program to recall players of Benin descent spread across Europe and America for a course that will touch on various national team departments.

This course, in the words of Onifade, included theoretical and practical sessions to strengthen the capacities of national referees, physiotherapists, masseurs and coaches. "These sessions are aimed at holders of Young Coach or Start Coaching certifications, Level 1 or 2 FIBA Africa or Level 1 FIBA One."

The athletes arrived on July 21, 2024, and were received at the Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport in Cotonou by the federation president to underscore the importance of the task ahead.

Akinocho Yunss, General Team Manager of the delegation had stated the goal on arrival.

"We are going to launch the first Benin national team with the people of Benin and the diaspora." As for the main objective, he says that it will be to prepare a good team with the help of the staff and the coaches for future competitions.

President Onifade recalls that the coming of the athletes in Benin is a result of interfacing with the diaspora community over the years. "I just want to recall an event I hosted two years ago in Paris where I hosted a conference (a talk) with young people from the diaspora through an invitation. We informed them of our ambitions and what the government is doing today for the development of youth and then professionalization."

For the players, returning to home soil to help build a new and strong national team is a dream they don’t want to wake up from now that it has turned into reality.

One such players is the younger brother of NBA champion and former French international Ian Mahinmi, Ricketts Jason Mahinmi, who described the occasion as " a dream. I was talking about it with the president in 2022 and now we're here, it's an honor, and we can't wait."

The international training camp took place from July 22-29, 2024, at the Eya Community Center in Cotonou.

FIBA