ABUJA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian basketball authorities on Thursday said a new coach has been hired to tune up their senior men's team, the D'Tigers for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Mike Brown, a U.S.-based coach has been named as the new head coach of the Nigerian team, Musa Kida, president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), told reporters in Lagos, the country's commercial hub.
Brown, who was an assistant head coach to the victorious Golden State Warriors of the U.S., will be assisted by Alex Nwora and J.B Bickerstaff.
"His (Brown's) appointment was part of the determination that this administration had promised to bring the best to the development of basketball in Nigeria, especially the senior national teams," Kida said.
"This (new) appointment would also attract the best players that we have far and wide who, like in the past, want to represent Nigeria at the top competitions," the basketball administration official said.
Brown's appointment, according to Kida, is specifically for the Summer Games. "But I am confident that he would go beyond that because he is so passionate about the progress of basketball in Nigeria," he said further.
Kida expressed optimism that D'Tigers and D'Tigress, as the female national team is officially known, have all that it takes to win gold at the Olympics, adding the prospects are very high.
