Vice President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Babatunde Ogunade, says the upcoming FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament 2026 in France will provide an important opportunity to assess players and strengthen the national team ahead of the main competition.
Nigeria’s women’s national team, Nigeria women’s national basketball team, already secured their spot at the next World Cup after winning the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket, but Ogunade believes the qualifiers will still serve a vital role in the team’s preparation.
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“The qualifiers will give us a good opportunity to assess the players and strengthen the team ahead of the main tournament,” Ogunade said.
According to him, preparations are already underway with the national team camp opened to accommodate both established players and new prospects.
“Camp has been opened to give opportunities to both local and overseas-based players to be part of the team,” he explained.
Ogunade revealed that the coaching crew intends to integrate new talents while maintaining the core of experienced players who have contributed to the team’s success in recent years.
“The idea is to assemble the best possible team that can represent Nigeria strongly,” he added.
Nigeria has consistently been one of the dominant forces in African women’s basketball, and Ogunade believes the team has the potential to improve on its previous achievements on the global stage.
“Our target is to go beyond what we achieved before,” he stated.
D’Tigress reached the quarterfinals of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018 in Spain, a historic performance that remains one of the best outings by an African team at the competition.
Ogunade expressed confidence that with proper preparation and a balanced squad, Nigeria can deliver an even stronger performance in the next edition.
“We believe the team can go further and achieve something special,” he concluded.
