D’Tigers head coach Alex Nwora has selected 15 players to face Dominican Republic on Saturday July 20 and Sunday July 22 in San Domingo.
Ben Uzoh, Iroegbu Ike, Ike Diogu, Talib Zanna alongside Tosin Mehinti, Obekpa Chris, Aminu Alade and Akindele Ayodeji have all been selected ahead of this weekend’s friendly.
Others include newly invited Jordan Ogundiran, Agada Caleb, Nwamu Ike, Gabe Vincent, Stanley Okoye, Stephen Domingo and TK Edogi who will all feature in the game taking place at the Palacio De Los Deportes.
The 15 players were selected from the 44 man preliminary roster released on June 27 ahead of the 2019 FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup in China.
Nwora said the test games will afford him the opportunity to rate the players at his disposal in a game situation as well as try out new tactics.
“The last few days have been very interesting in camp. The players have been showing a high level of discipline and willingness to learn new things. The friendly games will afford the technical crew the opportunity of evaluating the players.”
Some players are expected to be dropped after the test games while others on the 44 man list earlier released by Nwora will join the team for the next phase of training.
Nwora continued, “This won’t be an easy decision but we just have to do it. If I had my way, I would have loved to take all the 44 players to the World Cup, but sadly this is not possible.”
The double header is part of the programmes lined up by the Nigeria Basketball Federation to get the team ready for the biggest basketball showpiece in China next month.