Courted by Britain, in love with Nigeria

By Ifeanyi Ibeh


Temi Fagbenle looks all set to be the biggest thing to have ever happened to women's basketball in Nigeria.

Standing at 6 feet 4 inches and with a long, lean build that is quite rare in the women's game, as well as an uncanny ability to score with both hands inside the key, not forgetting a retinue of interior passes and a radar-like ability to rebound balls and block shots, Temi appears to already possess all that it takes to make it in any of the top leagues in the world, including the women's equivalent of the National Basketball Association - the WNBA. But she's not yet 18.

In fact, Temi won't officially be an adult until September 8 and is still a couple of years away from featuring in the WNBA. She's also still in high school and, even though she has Nigerian citizenship, holds passports from both the United States and Great Britain has already represented England at junior international tournaments.

"She has three nationalities," explained Temi's father, Tunde, in an interview. "She's American, she's British and she's Nigerian but I must tell you that her first love is Nigeria. She loves Nigeria and would love to play for Nigeria.

"She grew up in England, schooled in England and she sees England as home but we looked into it to see whether playing for England will prevent her from playing for Nigeria and we got assured that at the age level she is involved in it does not disqualify her from playing at the senior level for Nigeria."

Nigeria's loss, Britain's gain

The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has, in a bid to improve the fortunes of the women's national team, the Tigress, recruited foreign players of Nigerian descent like Mfon Udoka, Joanne Aluka, Ugochukwu Oha, Itoro Umoh and Mobolaji Akiode into the side which culminated in a first ever African title in 2003, followed by an appearance at the Olympic Games in 2004 and the FIBA World Championship for Women two years later.

The Tigress also retained their African title in 2005.

However, despite its popularity, basketball is underfunded in Nigeria and the NBBF has not done itself any favours with the constant infighting among its board members. All these have seen the fortunes of the national team dropping to an all-time low resulting in the team's unimpressive performance at the 2009 African Women's Basketball Championship in Madagascar.

There appears to be greater stability within the NBBF these days but the recent in-house squabbles have had a tool on Temi's international future as she is set to return to England at the end of the month to compete for a spot on the Great Britain senior national team ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games.

"I got across to the Nigeria Basketball Federation to let them know that I have a daughter who's about to be snatched by England. But then I was told that the members of basketball federation were all messing about with themselves and that I should just let Temi carry on with her life, at least until the senior level," recalled her father.

"She has played for England at U-16, she has played U-18 and she will probably play for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics. But if by the time she gets into the senior category and the Nigerian federation has its act together she will want to play for Nigeria over and above any other country," added Fagbenle who has 11 other children.

From budding tennis talent to hoop star

Temi comes from a sports-loving family with tennis the family's undisputed first choice, including hers.

"Everyone in the family plays tennis, even my grandchildren, so it was a tug-of-war trying to move Temi away from tennis into basketball," continued Fagbenle.

"She plays ferocious tennis; she plays for her academy as well but her stance was a bit awkward so I advised her to move into basketball. She fought against it in the beginning thinking I was pushing away from tennis but she took it up and now she loves it."

With her imposing physique, Temi is understandably the star attraction at her school, Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, but she didn't travel from England to the United States three years ago - which was also around the period she decided to take up basketball - to pursue a career in sports as her goals are surprisingly more academic than might be assumed of a player of her caliber.

Academic pursuit

In the United States, she is currently listed among the top 25 players in her category and, as a result, is being sought after by over 50 universities, including Duke, and more than a handful of Ivy League schools such as Columbia and Harvard which, when considered, is rare for most youngsters considered to be potential high school All-Americans.

"She likes Duke," continued Fagbenle whose mailbox has been bombarded with mails from the prospective schools.

"She wants to study dentistry and Duke gave her a scholarship straight away that would even cover medical school and they have a fantastic basketball program but I just got an email from Havard a couple of days ago as they are interested in her. I mean, Harvard is running after her and not the other way round.

"For Temi, basketball is just an interest. She does not want to take it as a career as she does not see much of a future in it beyond a few years. So for her she is looking beyond basketball and, consequently, a name like Harvard will open doors for you."