But beyond 'The Dream’, another Nigerian - Masai Ujiri, has broken the barriers and rose to the position of the General Manager of NBA Club - Toronto Raptors, the first by an African. In 2012-13 season, he was voted the NBA Executive of the Year. Ujiri was in the country to organise his yearly Giant of Africa/Nestle Top-50 Basketball Camp for boys and girls, which has been on now for over a decade. In an interview with Kunle Adewale he gave an insight into some of the achievements of the camp so far
After ending a professional playing career in 2002, Masai Ujiri worked as a youth coach in Nigeria. But it was during a National Basketball Association summer league game in Boston that he met David Thorpe, who introduced him to college coaches. He started accompanying young Nigerian players to draft tryout in Orlando when he impressed scouting director, Gary Brokaw, who then introduced him to Coach Doc Rivers and General Manager, John Gabriel.
He then became an unpaid scout for Orlando Margic paying his own way when he had to and sharing rooms with scouts or players when he could.
Later Jeff Weltman, then a young Nuggets executive, introduced him to Nuggets General Manager, Kiki Vandewehe, who then hired Ujiri on salary as an international scout.
“Denver Nuggets took a chance on me and it thus came a time when this opportunity was so big and it put me on some form of a stage, where I can affect basketball a little bit more, especially on the continent here. I had a great run in Nuggets; they gave me an unbelievable opportunity to be a first time General Manager,” he recalled.
After four seasons with the Nuggets, he was hired by Bryan Colangelo of the Toronto Raptors as their director of global scouting. Ujiri became the Raptors’ assistant general manager in 2008, and returned to the Nuggets in 2010, when he accepted his position as executive vice president in charge of basketball operations.
On May 31, last year, Ujiri signed a five-year, $15 million deal to become general manager of the Toronto Raptors: “It was a difficult decision leaving Denver Nuggets, but because I had worked in Toronto, I’m familiar with the organisation, ownership and I was happy to go back,” he said.
Though his pet Africa Top 50 basketball is now in its 12th year, for him every home-coming is always great: “To come and be part of the camp we started several years ago is always great. The Top Fifty and Giant of Africa Camp mean a lot to me. It’s something that will always be close to my heart and I’ll always be close to home through this. I’d like to thank Nestle Milo for being a strong supper of the project and also Nike for their continuous support. It’s not only with what they have provided but the sustenance over the years; it’s always good to have sponsors that will continue to stay by you. Other than that, I’m glad to be here and we hope to always help these kids,” the first African-born general manager for an American major league sports team emphasized.
Continuing he said: “Obtaining a camp and giving young kids opportunity to better their lives gives me pleasure and I really want to thank all the coaches, especially the Proprietor of Dodan Warriors Basketball Club, Colonel Sam Amedu (rtd) and all the people that have really helped in keeping this camp going. I think the ground is the most special thing in the camp before finding and selecting players. The bottom line of this camp is for the kids to go to America but I have always told the kids that if they are good enough, they will end up doing something good with their life. I just wanted to create an opportunity for kids and now that I am back with a better opportunity. I think we are going to broaden some of the things that we can do and one of the things we are going to really look at is developing out-door courts and trying to make an impact with the facilities for these kids to play. That’s what on our minds and we are going to discuss this
extensively obviously with my guys on ground. With Amedu and the coaches, we’ll try and put our resources together to see what we can do.”
On how Nigerian players can get into NBA through his influence and camp, the NBA Executive of the Year said: “I don’t think there has been any young Nigerian basketball player that is really good that hasn’t left the country. If you are good enough, you will be found. However, our emphasis is on education and being prepared for what life is all about, that is what we are trying to teach these kids. The NBA has only 400 players and only a few players are going to make it. We are proud that a lot of them have gone through universities in the US. I have been a big influence on these kids in a big way, showing them that it is not only through basketball that they can make it. One can also do other things outside basketball using the game as a tool and basketball can create that avenue just like what I’m doing now. We stressed the need for the participants to take their education seriously, as it was not possible for all of them to be drafted into the
NBA league even if they play at colleges in the US.
"Education is one thing that the kids can lean on at any time. Education got me the position that I am now. If a player got injured in the process of playing he can always fall back to education. Two players from the camp-Solomon Alabi and Chukwudi Maduabum have gone on to star in the NBA," Ujiri noted.
The 2014 edition of the Giant of Africa/Nestle Top 50 Basketball Camp for boys and girls kicks off on Sunday and ended on Tuesday with both foreign and local coaches, including Patrick Engelbrecht, Brandon Johnson, Scott Nnaji, Abel Nelson.
The camp which was initially fixed for August was postponed because of the Ebola outburst in Nigeria will see the participants go through dribbling and ball handling, shooting fundamentals, passing and catching fundamentals, individual defence and footwork station.
“This year’s camp is situated at a difficult time because of the postponement it suffered as a result of Ebola. My team is playing tonight (Monday) and I won't be there. That is how tight my schedule is. We had kids from Nigeria, Benin Republic and Togo with instructors drawn from Nigeria and the United States of America,” he said.
Masai however feels fulfilled after 12 years starting the camp.
“Looking back after 12 years when we started, I will say the camp has really grown. I hope it continues to grow. A lot of kids aspire to attend the camp which provides them the opportunity to learn the basics of the game, which I think are very important for us. If you go to a lot of college games in the United States and you see a lot of kids that have passed through the camp, it is overwhelming because there are so many of them but my concentration is how to develop the game in this country and I think it’s one of the camp that has been sustained over the years and we are proud of that.”
The Top 50 Camp is however not without its obstacles some of which Masai identified thus: “Some of the challenges we have is the number of kids that would have loved to participate but had to be turned down because of limited accommodation and facilities. For instance, we have to do with only one basketball court. Maybe after 12 years we will consider expanding it. We are limited in terms of facility and it’s not just conducive for you to say that you put 150 kids in that stadium.
“So the camp being elite is what makes it good. To get into the camp, be part of it and be selected is something special and we have to continue that way. We don’t want to water it down and allow anybody to just come. To keep the camp at a high level we need to keep it at a minimum number and that’s what we are doing. To sustain that number as long as we can.”
The six-foot-four manager said he could mention about a hundred kids from his camp that are in the United State doing different things.
“They are everywhere and we have all the data. I’m creating a website, the Giants of Africa website of which work is already in progress. A website of comprehensive information for people to know more about the camp, the past, the coaches, the history, photos, videos and all those stuffs is being built. It takes time, money and all other things that will be needed but we slowly getting them together.
“We need to start developing young kids. One of my goals is to catch them at a younger age. What we are doing now is between the ages of 15-19 but when we get to what we want to start doing with basket in terms of facilities and outdoor courts, then you get younger players playing. That’s why we are so talented in football because the facilities are easier to create. With just four stones which can serve as goal posts, you can get going. When I came to camp on Sunday morning, I see soccer players playing all over. It’s easy to build skills that way when you play that way. With the basketball court, it’s not easy to build a rim, so kids start playing at a late age, and when you start playing at a late age, your skill is limited,” he noted.
Ujiri crave for more basketball camps in the country, which he said will enhance the development of the game in the country.
"The more basketball camps we have the better for the game. Other organisations should come up and support basketball. There are not enough competitions in the game in Nigeria. We should also do more in the areas of coaches and facilities development. The country has a lot of talents that could achieve greatness in basketball, but the impediments are inadequate facilities and few numbers of qualified coaches to harness the abundant talents. My desire is to help develop the youths, who are looking for the opportunity to build their careers from the game."
On the chances of his Toronto Raptures this season, he said: "We have a very good chance like every other team in the NBA and we will keep on fighting till the end." The former Nigerian basketball player said the camp has been extended to other African countries last year. "We are now in Kenya and we will be starting that of Rwanda and Ghana," he said.
Ujiri, born in 1970, in Zaria, to a doctor mother and a hospital administrator/nursing educationist father. He originally played football as a youth before focusing on basketball. His interest with basketball started as a 13-year old playing with friends on outdoor basketball courts in northern Nigeria. This interest would be fed by American sports magazines and VHS tapes of NBA games or basketball movies. He immigrated to the United States to play two years of basketball at Bismarck State College, and then transferred to Montana State University, though he left the latter school after one semester. He then spent six years playing professionally in Europe.
Source: ThisDay
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