U.S. ready to support Nigeria’s basketball development - Envoy

The United States of America has assured Nigeria of its willingness to support grassroots basketball development in the country as part of efforts to improve the standard of the dunking game across the world.

Speaking at the final of the Organised Basketball Network (OBN) Hoop Summit Championship at the weekend, a representative of the U.S Embassy, Jennifer Fox, said Nigeria has abundant talents at the grassroots, who need assistance to grow in the sport.

She commended the organisers of the OBN Hoop Summit Championship for giving Nigerian youths the opportunity to display their skills in basketball, saying the U.S. would collaborate more with Nigeria to encourage more youths to play basketball.
At the championship, Pressure 55 defeated Vedione Voltage 60 to 57 to win the U-18 Category of the event. Earlier, CEO of OBN Academy, Obinna Ekezie, described the event as another procedure by the academy to discover more talents in basketball from their formative stage.

“The basketball championship was organised to gauge how far our students have learnt the game and to also discover some talents among them. We will organise more championships during the holiday season and also hold top tournaments at the academy to encourage youths,” he said.

While thanking the U.S. government for taking part in the event, he said, “We also thank individuals who sponsored the four teams in the OBN Hoop Summit.”

Pressure 55 got N1million cash prize for emerging champions in the U-18 category, Vedione Voltage received N500,000 for finishing second, while Mariners were rewarded with N250, 000 as third-place finishers.

Alozie Ikenna of Pressure 55 was crowned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the championship. In the U-15 category, Mariners defeated Vedione Voltage 36 to 15 to win grade, while Pressure 55 beat The Future to claim third place.