Oyo players excel at 10th Aminu Good Works Basketball Event

The 10th Aminu Good Works Foundation Nigeria Basketball Combine started on Friday at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba, Ibadan, Oyo State. It ended on Sunday with the announcement of the First Team and two Most Valuable Players.

Precious Jude and Ajibade Abraham received the Most Valuable Player awards. The competition also named a First Team that includes 14 male and female players.

Over the three-day event, 150 young talents participated. This group had 100 boys and 50 girls, mainly from Oyo State. There were also 15 coaches, with one coach for every 10 players.

Aminu Al-Farouq, a Nigerian basketball star and the founder of the Aminu Good Works Foundation, spoke about why he started this initiative. He said it was his way of giving back to Nigeria.

“It was a higher power. I just felt called to give back. And I felt I had the ability to do it. I had a calling to want to be back to my Nigerian roots. I realised that this is something that I’m obviously very passionate about. It’s been 10 years now and I’m going to continue to be passionate about it. I have a team and I believe that we’re primed to do some amazing things,” Al-Farouq shared.

He mentioned his initial goal was to help Nigeria’s basketball team reach the Olympics. “I remember initially I just played for the national team, but the overall goal initially was always to have Nigeria basketball go to the Olympics and have us just on a national scale. That’s how I thought of it at first. And then after coming, you realise that basketball is just a small portion of the things that are needed for sure,” he said.

Al-Farouq reflected on the foundation's progress since it started in 2016, highlighting the importance of staying consistent.

“I would say just consistency right now. Yes, I think we missed one year and that was because of COVID. But yes, obviously, unless we can’t fly, we usually do the event for sure.

“The type of things that I wanted to see, I would say that it took a little bit of time because I had a full-time job at the time. It was hard to just give this all of my focus. Now that I’m done playing and I needed some time even after that, it’s a big lifestyle change and I had to adjust,” Al-Farouq explained.

He also mentioned the camp's name, “Who is Chief?” It aims to find out which young talent will become the next Chief.

“That’s why I named the camp, ‘Who is the Chief?’ I want to find out who’s the next Chief? Who’s going to be that next kid who does their own stuff and becomes everything they need to become?” he said.

The 10th Nigeria Basketball Combine will continue in Abuja from August 13 to 16.