Three years and two major tournaments have passed since Portland Trail Blazers forward, Al Farouq Aminu suited up for the senior national basketball team. He will make his return to the national team along with his brother Alade Aminu, 2015 Afrobasketl teammate Stan Okoye and Ekene Ibekwe next month when Nigeria hosts the second round of the FIBA World Cup African qualifiers
This was confirmed in the 12 player list released by the Alex Nwora, Head Coach of DTigers, ahead of the qualifiers scheduled to hold in Lagos from Friday 14th to Sunday 16th of September. The list includes the trio of Ike Diogu - team captain, Ike Iroegbu and Ike Nwammu who played a significant role in the 2017 Afrobasket.
Ben Uzoh, Bryant Mbamalu, Deji Akindele, Obinna Emegano and Christoper Obekpa also made the team
"There is no time to have too many players in camp as some of the players will be arriving a few days to the competition based on the time of release by their clubs" - Coach Nwora speaking on his decision to invite only twelve players.
Although Nigeria finished top of the group during the first round of the African qualifiers with a group of young talented players winning all three games, the team had to be strengthened for us to stand a chance against teams like Senegal, Ivory Coast, and the Central Africa Republic in the second round.
In a statement released earlier today, the Basketball Federation is confident that the invited players to make the nation proud in the qualifiers.
Al-Farouq has been to Nigeria in recent times especially for his Aminu Goodworks Foundation. However, he hasn`t had the privilege of playing in front of the Nigeria crowd. This is a special homecoming for him and his brother, one that Nigerian fans are very excited about.
Nigeria will play against Ivory Coast on Friday 14th, Central African Republic on Saturday 15th, and Senegal on Sunday 16th.
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