The founder of Ultra Basketball Championship in Nigeria, Olusegun Imah has disclosed that the innovative slam-dunk game uses data and scientific indicators to monitor the development of youngsters at each stage of their progression into top players.
Sports247 reports that Imah stated this after the competition’s maiden edition took place at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) open-air basketball court, where Team Vortex won the men’s section and Nova took top spot for the female category of what was tagged Ultra Basketball Championship Season Zero.
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Vortex were crowned ‘King of The Men’ after defeating all three opponets, with the last being an epic overtime victory against Team Flux, who eventually placed third, while Team Apex came second and Team Surge finished fourth; as Team Nova topped the women’s category.
Team Eclipse settled for second position in the female cadre, while Team Halo finished third and Team Ember placed fourth; following which Imah said the successful maiden edition has boosted interest among players, coaches and fans ahead of Season 1 scheduled to hold in November.
While hinting that there will be an expansion in the competition’s scope, Imah revealed that the event, which was launched a year ago, is a fast-paced, one-day youth showcase with distinct basketball rules that featured 64 players – 32 male and 32 female – split evenly across eight teams.
The programme was set in motion with a ceremonial draft pick a few days before the event itself, while organisers highlighted the importance of such an initiative in the development of next-generation talent, aged 16 to 20, across the South-West of Nigeria.
Imah reiterated that spottimg and grooming players early is very paramount and he added: “Discovering talent early is important. Sports is a physical activity, but not everyone is going to keep on playing for as long as LeBron James is currently doing.
“You have maybe 10 years, if you are lucky 15 years. So, it is important to start early. So, our focus is discovering talent early, nurturing them and playing active roles in their development. But most importantly, we want to pay attention to data.”
