The 12 man team which has Captain Ike Diogu, a remnant of the Championship winning 2015 team in- is heavy with foreign based players including Diogu who last featured in China for Jiangsu Monkey King and Daniel Ochefu of Washington Wizards.
The selection is similar to Nigeria’s roster a couple of years ago when the West African giant won its maiden continental trophy with all but one player featuring for clubs outside Nigeria.
Guard Ben Uzoh then of Lagos Islanders was the sole player from the local scene on the winning team. In the lead up to the final selection, eight local players were dropped from the team in the initial cut.
Nigeria opens this year’s Championship with a tie against Ivory Coast in Tunisia; games in Group B will be played in the North African country.
Preliminary games will also be played in Senegal since the West African nation is co hosting the event; all knockout games will be played in Tunisia.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
