Coach of Nigeria’s Under-18 basketball team, Julie Negedu-Akere has commended the players who represented the country in the 2024 Afrobasket U18 championship that ended in Pretoria, South Africa. She spoke just as the U18 men and women arrived at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos Monday afternoon.
Coach Akere said, “It was quite a good experience for us, and considering how the journey was from Lagos to South Africa, I can the players gave a good account. That visa challenge took a toll on the players. It was both physical and mental. I just wish we were able to get there earlier as we experienced a completely different kind of weather.
“One of our girls could not play at all until nearly the third game and soon nearly everyone in the ladies’ team went down. We recovered physically and were able to beat Egypt and Uganda at the second opportunity but if you noticed we were tiring out by the third and last quarter.
“The exposure these players have gained can’t be quantified.”
The teams eventually touched down at about 2 pm aboard the Kenyan Airways instead of the earlier schedule of 11.30am.
The ladies returned home with a ticket to the FIBA U19 World Cup that will be held in the Czech Republic from July 12 to 20, 2025. J’Tigress lost the women’s final match to Mali 76-56 on Saturday.
J’Tigers could not make it to the final game as they were beaten by Mali in the semi-finals on Friday. Mali successfully defended their top position by beating Cameroon 60-51 on Saturday.
The two teams in the final matches will represent Africa at the world event.
