Zenith Bank Proud of Basketball Growth in Nigeria

*2nd Phase of National Women’s League to start on Sunday

The sponsors of the annual National Women’s Basketball League, Zenith Bank PLC, are delighted about the progress of the game in Nigeria, especially in the women cadre.

Zenith Bank has been the sole sponsor of the national women’s league for about two decades and the competition has produced many super stars who also developed over the years to represent Nigeria at continental and global events.

It is on record that the national Women’s team, D’Tigress has won the AfroBasket competition for four consecutive years while the team shocked the world two years ago at the basketball World Cup.

At the recently concluded Olympic Games in France, D’Tigress also showed so much guts by beating highly rated teams like Australia  and Canada to earn a berth in the quarterfinal of the event. The team’s coach Rene Wakama, was named the best coach of the global event.

It is also instructive to note that Murjanatu Musa, one of the key players of the team at the Olympics in Paris was the MVP of the 2022 event of Zenith Bank’s National Women’s Basketball League.

The Group Managing Director and CEO of Zenith Bank, Adaora Umeoji, says the outfit is always delighted that the investment in basketball is fast yielding positive fruits.

Umeoji said: “We are really happy that the women national team, D Tigress, are  catching up with the rest of the world with our products in the league as part of the success story.

“The fast growth of the game will further propel up to do more just as we are happy with the ongoing league across the country. We charge all participants to put in their best efforts so that they will also become national team stars in the nearest future.”

Meanwhile, the second phase of the 2024 NBBF/Zenith Bank National Women’s Basketball League is scheduled to start on September 22nd in two centres.  

The Phase 2 will take place in Enugu and Abuja respectively from September 22 to 28 with National finals taking place at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos between October 13 and 19.

Record title holders, First Bank, won all their games in the Atlantic Conference Phase 1 decided in Akure just as Customs Basketball team also won all their games in the Savannah Conference decided in Lafia, Nasarawa State.