The Nigeria Basketball Federation this week named NBA coaching veteran David Fizdale as the new head coach of the D'Tigers, the country's senior men's national basketball team.
The 51-year-old, who has spent more than two decades working in the NBA, where he has won two Championships with the Miami Heat, coached Hall of Famers, and held a front office role, takes over a programme that has fallen off their perch in recent years.
Fizdale has set his sights on turning things around, with his sights set on not just qualifying for, but medalling at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
"We have to make getting to Los Angeles our mission," he said in an interview with M4S TV in Nigeria.
"That is my ultimate goal, to get this team to those Olympics. And not just get there. I want to win."
D'Tigers, suffering the consequences of the never-ending leadership troubles that have plagued Nigerian basketball, have suffered some undignified losses and currently sit third in Group C of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers, which is the first step of their route to the Games.
They were beaten by Tunisia and Guinea and could only manage an overtime win over Rwanda.
Fizdale added: "We can't set short goals. We can't just say, 'Oh, we're happy to be in the Olympics.' That is not acceptable. We have to set higher goals. We have to set the same goals as the U.S. team, the same expectations as the U.S. team.
"Can we reach it? I don't know. But if we're shooting for that and working in that way, pushing ourselves and holding ourselves accountable to be on that level, only good things can come out of that.
"I guarantee you one thing, the guys I've talked to who want to play and are working to get eligibility, they're not going to be happy just to be at the Olympics. They're going to want to win a medal."
The 2028 Games will be held in Fizdale's home town of Los Angeles where, in the summer of 1984, he watched the Olympics come to his city. A young Michael Jordan, fresh out of college, led the United States to gold. It made an impression that never left.
The former Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns assistant coach said: "When you go through your career, if you're lucky enough, you start putting together a bucket list of basketball things you want to accomplish.
"When I found out I'd be coaching a team in my hometown, that made it that much more desirable. All of my friends, all of my family, all of my coaches, we were all here as witnesses to the '84 Olympics.
"When young Michael Jordan was coming out of college, I was like 9 or 10 years old. And that stuck with me. From that moment I wanted to participate. Back then I wanted to play. But when the basketball gods said playing wasn't in the cards, I shifted my mindset: I really want to coach in the Olympics."
Recruitment drive in top gear
In order to accomplish that, Fizdale says his immediate priority is recruitment. In the past, D'Tigers' successes have been built on being able to call upon their vast array of NBA and European talent, including the likes of Ekpe Udoh, Gabe Vincent, Chimezie Metu, Josh Okogie, Precious Achiuwa, Jordan Nwora and others.
That has not been the case in recent years, when they have struggled to put teams together, mostly from the local clubs and few from Europe and Asia. Fizdale says he is already at work changing that.
He has already consulted with Metu, who he coached in Phoenix, as well as Houston Rockets guard Okogie, another former Suns player under Fizdale's watch, and says the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"My first priority is recruiting," he said. "I've been on the phone a lot since we announced on Thursday. I've spoken to 14 NBA players that are not currently eligible but have deep Nigerian connections, and I've gotten a ton of excitement.
"I got two commitments. I will not say who, because I think it's their story to tell, but two commitments from really good NBA players that hadn't played before. The big part is getting them eligible. That's a big process that I'm learning quickly is not just a guarantee.
"I plan on bringing back the NBA guys that already previously played. But recruiting is the biggest thing I'm doing right now, and behind that, fundraising like crazy and putting together my coaching staff. All of those things are already at work. I can't sit on my butt, I have to get out there and get to work."
NBA players are not the only ones the new coach will be looking to. He has also set his sights on players around the world and even a few back home in Nigeria.
"The list of players I have is incredible," he said. "I knew there were a lot of good Nigerian players around the world and in Nigeria, but I didn't realize how many. We have a list that we are combing through now.
"I have 3 assistant coaches picked out already, but still much more staff to hire. We're going to give opportunities to the guys that can get it done. We want the best talents possible, and a lot of those are in the NBA, but if they're local, if they're in Europe, it doesn't matter to me.
"I just want a really good Nigerian basketball team to represent the country."
One of those first hires is Ekpe Udoh, who played at the last Olympic Games for Nigeria, and Fizdale said: "I hired Ekpe Udoh to be on my coaching staff, which is extremely exciting. I've known him for 14 years now.
"It means so much to him to do this, and he's been extremely helpful, not only with recruiting, but player evaluations and his insights on Nigeria and the culture."
Nigeria's journey to turn around their FIBA World Cup qualifying fortunes resumes in the third qualifying window in Angola in July where they will again face Guinea, Tunisia and Rwanda.
The D'Tigers won only one of their first three games in the opening window last November in Tunisia, leaving them third in Group C behind Guinea (3-0) and Tunisia (2-1).
The standard he wants has been set most clearly not by the men's team but by their women's counterparts. D'Tigress have won five consecutive Women's AfroBasket titles and seven overall, are ranked eighth in the FIBA world rankings, and last year became the first African basketball team, male or female, to reach the Olympic quarterfinals at the Paris 2024 Games.
D'Tigers, by contrast, have just a single AfroBasket title to their name, won in 2015 in Tunisia when they beat Angola 74-65 in the final. At the last tournament in Angola, they topped their group but fell in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalists Senegal, finishing fifth.
Fizdale said he is aware of the gap between the two teams and intends to use the women's program as a blueprint, not merely an inspiration: "What they have done is incredible.
"They have raised the bar and we have to follow their example."
The 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers window 3 tips off July 2 in Luanda, Angola.
The FIBA World Cup qualifiers, and tournament, (as well as the NBA) air on ESPN's channels in Africa (DStv 218 and 219, Starsat 248), and on Disney+ in South Africa.
