Former D'Tigers
player and team
manager of the
national basketball
team, Dozie Mbonu,
recalls how the team
trudged on to win a
ticket to the London
Olympics, saying
their plan is to make a significant impact at the
Games.
"When we qualified by defeating the Dominican
Republic, it was such a surreal moment," Mbonu
says. "Not only did everyone become national heroes,
but we also became Olympians. Everything that I
wrote in my proposal centred on qualifying for the
Olympics and future World Championship and World
Cup tournaments. For this to happen in my first year
as manager of the team and primary consultant for
the federation, it's beyond me.
"It's that type of surreal moment you dream about,"
he says. "While I wasn't able to do it as an athlete,
I'm doing it in a managerial perspective, and it feels
just as good. I'm so happy for my players and
everybody – the federation, all the officials and the
president for even giving me the opportunity to be in
this position. This is the most humbling experience
I've had in my life."
Currently fifth in Lehigh NCAA history with 1,791
career points, Mbonu was a standout in the Brown
and White from 1988-92. He followed all-time greats
Daren Queenan (currently first in career scoring) and
Mike Polaha (third), becoming one of Lehigh's finest
himself. Mbonu went on to a professional career in
Europe which he recently retired from at the age of
39.
Mbonu had previously played for the D'Tigers. But it
was two years ago, during the World Championships,
when the wheels started turning for another
endeavour. A scout from the Utah Jazz called asking
why Nigeria wasn't in the championships with all the
talent it has.
"I told him I know the reasons why, but it's going to
be a long conversation," says Mbonu. "I'd been
waiting for someone with a similar idea to come on
and help. From there, I put together a proposal which
I submitted to the president of the Nigerian
Basketball Federation. That's how it started.
"Through a couple emails back and forth, he met us
for an exploratory meeting."
Normally after such a meeting, the president would
take some time to discuss. But in this instance, they
wanted to move forward with Mbonu's proposal.
Nigeria basketball would have its chance for the
Olympics.
"From there, it took a little more than a year to
finalise the contract, but I actually started working
from that moment until the contract was signed,"
said Mbonu. "I basically worked for free until we got
the contract in order."
Mbonu and the NBBF president had to figure out
some logistics, including what players would need
while on the road. Last August, Mbonu arranged for
the team to compete in a friendly tournament
against Great Britain before playing for the African
Championships (which ultimately qualified Nigeria
for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament).
After taking bronze, the focus was squarely on
qualifying for the Olympics.
"We just started planning and reaching out to
players to build this team," says Mbonu. "Even
though last year's team was very good, strategically,
we wanted to put together a deep roster. We had a
mixture; our veteran players were logging a lot of
time, which was sometimes 35 or more minutes per
game. It took its toll on the players."
After failing to advance to the African
Championships, they decide to add significant depth.
"We started getting some fairly good responses back
from players who turned us down in the past," he
says.
Among Nigeria's current roster include NBA players
like Ike Diogu (San Antonio) and Al-Farouq Aminu
(New Orleans). Diogu was named MVP of the Olympic
Qualifying Tournament as Nigeria defeated Lithuania,
Greece and the Dominican Republic. Nigeria defied
the odds. They had a belief in themselves, which is
all they needed.
"We went with the expectation to qualify," he says.
"No one believed in us except ourselves. We were a
longshot. No one gave us a chance to even reach the
knockout stage of the quarter-finals, or even a
chance to get into the semi-finals.
"With that being said, our expectations are to go into
these Olympics with the same mindset," Mbonu
says. "Play as well as we can as a team because
that's the only way anything will get done. We have
to play as a team. We've always had an abundance of
talent, but when it's come to team play and
teamwork, those were the areas where we've fallen
short."
Nigeria are in Group A with Lithuania, Tunisia,
France, Argentina and the United States, Russia,
China, Great Britain, Brazil, Australia and Spain are in Group B
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