Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, D’Tigers head coach, Abdulrahman Muhammed, has now revealed the driving force behind their success.
The team secured a ticket to the 2025 Afrobasket tournament after a three-game win streak against Libya, Uganda, and Cape Verde.
“It’s not really magic. When you have over 200 million population back home praying and rooting and cheering for you to win, you have no reason not to. It’s not really magic,” Muhammed stated.
The team was fueled by the fear of missing out on the tournament, a scenario that Muhammed described as unthinkable.
“We are really, really motivated, and the thought that the D’Tigers and Nigerian flag would not fly in Angola, it’s even an added fuel to us to come out and do what we need to do.
“We got a lot of support from a lot of people back home, and the players that came here made a lot of sacrifice coming down here.”
“That is just to tell you how badly, how much we want to make it to Angola.”
Captain Ike Nwamu: “We Had One Goal in Mind”
D’Tigers captain Ike Nwamu echoed his coach’s sentiments, revealing that the team was singularly focused on securing qualification.
He pointed to their third-quarter performance against Uganda as a defining moment in their campaign.
“I think before we came here, everybody had the one goal in mind, and if everybody has one goal in mind, then you have more energy towards that goal.
“And I think that after that third quarter against Uganda, that’s where we really found ourselves, and then we were able to do something special.”
For Nwamu, this qualification was more than just a victory—it was about restoring Nigeria’s dominance in African basketball.
“The motivation was qualifying and getting to where we’re supposed to be. Since I’ve been with the national team, we’ve been at the top of Africa.”
The captain, who has been an integral part of Nigeria’s basketball success in recent years, expressed his personal desire to return D’Tigers to their winning ways.
“I’ve only lost, me personally, I’ve only lost two games since I’ve been with the national team against African teams, and both of those games were in that 2017 AfroBasket. So I wanted us to get back to that level of play.”
D’Tigers’ Road to Angola
The Nigerian team dominated their qualification campaign with wins over:
Libya – A strong performance to kick-start their journey
Uganda – A turning point in the third quarter, which ignited their self-belief
Cape Verde – Sealing their place with a commanding display
With their ticket to the 2025 Afrobasket secured, D’Tigers now set their sights on reclaiming the throne of African basketball.
