The tournament which was initially set to feature eight Nigerian Premier League teams has now been expanded to 10 teams.
Two teams, Gidi Giants, owned by former NBA star Olumide, and Spindex will join eight others to compete in the tournament which runs from February 6-11, 2023 at the National Stadium, Lagos.
Nigerian champions to go head-to-head
Nigerian league champions and Basketball League representatives Kwara Falcons along with former champions Rivers Hoopers headline the star-studded list of rival teams.
Other teams set to do battle in the tournament include Ebun Comets, Lagos Legends, Police Baton, Raptors, Hot Coal and Ogun Warlords.
The teams will lock horns in Lagos to determine who takes home the grand prize of 2 million naira and the runner-up goes home with 1 million Naira.
Organizer overwhelmed by interest
Tournament organizer Louis Edem Ekpeyong said that he has been flooded with interest from top local & international teams since the tournament was announced in December, hence the need to increase the number of participating teams from eight to 10 teams.
“Since we made the announcement almost all the top teams in the country have signified their interest. The passion to compete in the memorial tournament My father has been a lot and It’s really difficult to decide.”
“However, after talking to the team, we decided to increase the team entry to accommodate 10 teams and give all teams a minimum of 4 games in the preliminaries and we go straight to the semifinals.”
sum up Ekpeyong
Ekpeyong is the second most valuable Nigerian basketball player and former D’Tiger star. He also played for Kada Stars, Jigawa Rocks, Yelwa Hawks Bauchi, Union Bank basketball club, and Kano Pillars.
He also performed at Bahrain club Al Ittihad and Yarmook Club in Kuwait. Ekpeyong hosted the championship in honor of his father who died during the COVID pandemic in 2020.