Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, have announced the appointment of David Fizdale as their new head coach, news.ng reports.
The team disclosed X on Saturday morning.
Fizdale said he accepted the appointment after discussions with former head coach Mike Brown.
“I’m super excited. I have Mike Brown to thank, who coached the team before, and the year they beat the U.S. in the qualifiers and played in Japan.
“Mike brought it up to me. After some good talks and going back-and-forth, we agreed that I was going to try to take the team to qualify,” he stated.
Fizdale coached the Memphis Grizzlies and New York Knicks between 2016 and 2019.
With 24 years of NBA experience, Fizdale is a two-time NBA champion as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat.
His immediate task will be to qualify Nigeria for the 2027 FIBA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics, starting this summer with the July qualifiers in Angola.
