National Basketball Championship dunks off today

The 2016 Nigeria’s National Division 1 basketball championships will begin today at the Indoor Sports Hall, Package B of the Abuja National Stadium.

The President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijjani Umar, who disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja yesterday, said the competition will bring to climax the activities of the federation for the outgoing year.

The Division 1 Championship, which is the second tier of club basketball league in the country, will feature 18 clubs with both Athletic and Savanna Conferences producing nine clubs each.

The 18 clubs will slug it out for a place in the Nigeria Basketball Premier League next year.

The top finisher in each of the two conferences will automatically gain promotion to the Premier League.

Umar said all the participating clubs were already on ground and set for the contest.

He also added that all the necessary arrangement for a hitch free events have been put in place, stressing that the “federation will continue to open ways for talents discovering and we are happy that many clubs are coming up to participate in the national division 1.

“We have talents everywhere that is why we are giving opportunity to Anambra team to participate in the division 1 in the Athletics conference and it will encourage others like Imo, Abia and other states in South East to support their clubs to participate in the national league.”

Last season, FCT Rocks and Delta Force gained promotion from Division 1, having emerged champions of their respective conferences of the National Division I championship.