I coach youth basketball in my spare time. I have a team called 'J-Kings Basketball Club'. My question is, "why is youth basketball a distant second to football in this country when we have so many talented individuals?

Nigerians don't play basket ball or football. All they play is Soccer. Morning afternoon Night. Soccer Soccer SOccer. I am even tired of the soccer. See so many tall boys in Nigeria...they can't play basketball. why?

thats not true, we play a lot of bball in this country, check out my teams website at www,j-kingsbasketball.8m.com

because people tend to focus on what they think is already big instead of building something up. since football is big, thats all they focus on. Its sad. we could rule the world in basketball

Nigerians flow where the money is, so Soccer is it...its available worlwide. Most people arent tall enough for basket ball, so that rules them out. Naija man doesnt do anything for fun but for rewards, hence the big soccer focus.

People dont really play basketball as a offical game in Nigeria..dey all think dey tall pples are in USA

hey every bodies got their thing its easier to play football(soccer). for any street kid all you need is something that looks like a ball that youu can kick around its more comlicated with bball. to get the ball is killing for the typical street kid talkless of a court to paly except you stay at ogudu gra,vgc,parkview or those kind s of palces . so ...............

I must just say, it seems youth are not interested in b ball, but we are is just that there isnt lot of place to play. like me, i stay at maryland i must tell you we got lot of b baller there, but sometimes were we will play is the problem. cos of our interest in the game, some of us go th play at ikeja millatary cantonment which is closer to us, but we often get opreesed by some army men so long we are not from the cantonment. so you see, there are varioous factor that make we youth seem to neglect b ball.
J fox, pls i ll love to get in to your team. pls i ll need information. my email is kpoos100@yahoo.com

I must just say, it seems youth are not interested in b ball, but we are is just that there isnt lot of place to play. like me, i stay at maryland i must tell you we got lot of b baller there, but sometimes were we will play is the problem. cos of our interest in the game, some of us go th play at ikeja millatary cantonment which is closer to us, but we often get opreesed by some army men so long we are not from the cantonment. so you see, there are varioous factor that make we youth seem to neglect b ball.
J fox, pls i ll love to get in to your team. pls i ll need information. my email is kpoos100@yahoo.com

My soccer-crazy Nigerian friend says basketball is more boring than even table-tennis! I wonder if this is true!

Bibi:

Nigerians flow where the money is, so Soccer is it, its available worlwide. Most people arent tall enough for basket ball, so that rules them out. Naija man doesnt do anything for fun but for rewards, hence the big soccer focus.

True Basketball is developing in Nigeria. Give it a couple of years.

I play my self and I thought nobody played ATALL . But I moved and asked around. There are quite alot of bball players but they do need a larger fan base.

@ the fox: We have established an organization that will take care of that issue, our projection is to make sure basketball will have a close ranking with soccer if not superseding soccer.
Our projection is to make basketball a very popular game in the country, that will attract so many fans.

We'll be organizing a quarterly street basketball competition, basketball clinics and talent hunt, in 4 geopolitical states of the federation.
Tell me about your cub? You cal always reach us on heighetncroftltdng@gmail.com

@koby7: My organization is into mapping out strategies to develop basketball in Nigeria, will make make our findings and present this before the commandant.

How old are you and for how long have you been playing basketball. is there any team @ Ikeja Cantonment?

Whenever i go to any b ball court, one thing that strikes me most about the Nigerian players is their love for very big baggy shorts as if that's what makes them shoot better. albeit most of them fashionistas suck in free throws talkless of 2 pointers and 3 pointers.

[size=15pt]Lack of funds set to stop Nigeria from int’l basketball tourneys [/size]

Tuesday, 05 July 2011  Vincent Egboigbe

Lack of funds is set to stop Nigerian basketball teams in junior categories from participating in international competitions beginning with the 2011 Africa Championships for U16 Men and Women billed for Egypt from July 8 – 17 and July 22 – 31 and also the 2011 FIBA World Championship for U19 Women slated for Chile from July 21 – 31.

The National U19 Women national team qualified alongside Egypt to represent Africa at the FIBA U19 Championship as runners-up at the Afrobasket U18 finals in Cairo last year, but would not be attending the world championship as the Ministry of Sports/ National Sports Commission has turned down the request of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) for funding.

NBBF had planned to use participation in the Africa cadet championships and the World U19 Championship as an opportunity to actualise its dream of building winning senior teams through the development of junior players who will dominate the continentin the near future, but with the funding problem, that plan may be end as a dream.

[img]http://www.mycontinent.co/image1/basket/TopAFricanT/nigeria.jpg[/img]

The 2011 world championship would have been a unique opportunity to present a purposeful team with good chance of finishing in or very close to the medal bracket as against what obtained in the past.

As it stands now, the team might pull out of the world championship due to the financial constraints and the fact that the 2011 national budget is yet to be operational.

The NSC who is impressed with the progress made so far by the NBBF is said to be willing to assist with the funding the teams participation in these championship but is reportedly financially handicapped at the moment and the federation has exhausted all funding avenues without positive response.

Spokesman of the federation Olusegun Ikuesan says not going to the championships will incur the wrath of FIBA as well as impact negatively on the country’s basketball.

“We run the risk of being sanctioned because we have entered for the championship and again it is not good for the game in the country. There is little the federation can do on its own after all they sourced the money that was used for the preparation in the first place,” reveals Ikuesan Monday.

“As you know taking the 24 players to Egypt will cost so much. Director General NSC Patrick Ekeji says he is willing to assist but that there is no money as implementation of the 2011 budget has not commenced. It is really sad because that is not how they treat football.”

Source: http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/sport-reel/24081-lack-of-funds-set-to-stop-nigeria-from-intl-basketball-tourneys

Legendary sports marketing & entertainment media has fashioned out strategies to reinvigorate basketball in Nigeria, to look more entertaining to the general public and a source of lively hood for young guys out there.

We need contact details of basketball players that will be interested to showcase their skills in an upcoming street basketball free style auditioning.
We want participants of for Lagos now.

Interested players should forward there full details is this format (Age; Location; position; e-mail, Contact Address, Phone Number).

No age restriction. Come forward as long as you think it has what it takes to thrill the crown.

You will be group into teams. There will be three category of winners, which will be rewarded with wonderful gifts from And1 and other multinationals.

Further details on this programme will be made available to you when you receive an e-mail from you.

Send us an email to legendaryheightsng@gmail.com

WE WANT TO CREATE A DATA BASE OF TALENTED NIGERIAN BASKETBALL PLAYERS WHO DESIRE TO PLAY ENTERTAINMENT BASKETBALL OR PLAY FOR A CLUB-SIDE, WITHIN AND OUTSIDE NIGERIA, PLS INDICATE YOUR AREA OF CHOICE (ENTERTAINMENT BASKETBALL OF CLUB SIDE)

THERE'S NO AGE RESTRICTION. IF YOU'RE VERY SKILLFUL AND WANT TO TAKE YOUR BASKETBALL CAREER TO THE NEXT LEVEL. SEND US AN e-mail.

legendaryheightsng@gmail.com

Legendary sports marketing & entertainment media has fashioned out strategies to reinvigorate basketball in Nigeria, to look more entertaining to the general public and a source of lively hood for young guys out there.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN AN UPCOMING STREET BASKETBALL

Come showcase your skills in an upcoming street basketball Slam dunk, Dribbling, Free Style game. Participants should be residing in Lagos. We'll move to other states as time goes on.

Interested players should forward there full details is this format (Age; Location; position; e-mail, Contact Address, Phone Number).

No age restriction. Come forward as long as you think it has what it takes to thrill the crown.

You will be group into teams. There will be three category of winners, which will be rewarded with wonderful gifts from And1 and other multinationals.

Further details on this programme will be made available to you when you receive an e-mail from you.

Send us an email to legendaryheightsng@gmail.com

well the problem with basketball in Nigeria is the people in charge of it. they are just figure heads. they have no passion for the game. not just basketball. all they want is what they can gain, not how to develop the sport in the country. we have to start from primary schools introduce the youth to the game. let them see the fun in playing the game and the passion. America give tons of scholarship to basketball players in Nigeria. I know few that lives in America now. got scholarship from playing the game. that is a start to take to all this primary schools. is will also be a platform to develop education in our country. Not everybody will turn pro. but the knowledge acquired for schools both home and abroad is something that stay with u forever. we have to start from the grass roots. that is up to our leaders.

We lack public courts seriously, you can count the number of public courts in lagos.
I love basketball, used to play back in school in enugu, but since i came back to lagos, i have never seen any basketball court around, i have to travel to yaba or surulere which is impossible and very painful.
I stay at iju ishaga, if anyone knows any basketball court around, lemme know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzJKmORpt9Q

[size=14pt]Developing Basket Ball In Nigeria[/size]