ECC29 wrote: ↑April 12th, 2024, 6:53 am
I heard there is a Christian Academy (high school level) in Nigeria that has a very basketball program. There are a lot of good basketball academies all over Europe that can be a good source for players.
I think I can say with some certainty that there is more than one such school (with widely varying definitions of "Christian", as well as widely varying levels of competence in the coaching). In addition, there is an extensive club system, somewhat equivalent to AAU here. We hit the jackpot in the early 90's, getting Nwosu and Aluma out of the club system. This was followed by years of frustration getting players who wanted to come through the NCAA clearinghouse and numerous other hurdles.
The last straw was a 7 foot center we signed to a NIL in RD's last year. When he "left" we actually retained a Nigerian assistant coach he had hired specifically to be our contact with this player, We were never able to get him on campus, and when Ritchie arrived for his first stint, he decided it wasn't worth it, hired his own assistants, and focused on recruiting his own players. Greg Marshall, who had just left Winthrop for Wichita State, scooped up that assistant coach, and they labored for over 2 years before finally getting him in the fold (after a year of JUCO). Can't remember the name, but he was a physical freak of an athlete who never developed any significant skills as a basketball player and played 10-15 minutes a game off the bench for the Shockers, just for his rebounding and shot blocking. As far as I am aware, neither Layer or McKay have devoted any effort to pursuing Nigerian players since.
As far as the possibilities of our taking advantage of the current situation, I actually think Europe presents better options to get players who can make us better.