Nigerian basketball stars set for 2025/26 adventure News

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Nigerian basketball stars set for 2025/26 adventure

By Daily Sports Nigeria on October 2, 2025

PEDRO PETER highlights Nigerian players who are set for fresh adventures for the 2025/26 campaign, having signed for new franchises during the summer
With the conclusion of the various FIBA-sanctioned tournaments for national teams held across all continents over the summer, attention now switches to domestic action, as leagues in North America, Europe, and Asia prepare to tip off for the new season

Josh Okogie (Houston Rockets)

Undoubtedly, Nigeria’s biggest asset on the move over the summer when he pitched his tent with Western Conference franchise, the Houston Rockets, as a free agent for the 2025/26 season.

At Houston, Okogie will be reunited with former teammate Kevin Durant, as the Rockets aim to mount a proper challenge for the NBA title under Nigerian-American coach Ime Udoka. Okogie and Durant both previously featured for the Phoenix Suns and will look to form a lethal offensive-defensive partnership when the campaign starts.

Okogie and the Rockets will begin pre-season with scrimmages against the Atlanta Hawks on October 7 and 17, the Utah Jazz on October 9, and the New Orleans Pelicans on October 15, before the NBA campaign tips off with a clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 22.

The 26-year-old guard, who boasts seven years of experience in the NBA, was a former first-round pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves (20th overall) in 2018, where he featured for four years before moving to the Phoenix Suns in 2022.

In 416 career games, Okogie has averaged 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, and is a solid asset in defence. He ranked fourth in steals per 36 minutes (2.8) in the NBA during the 2024/25 season.

He laced up for D’Tigers for the first time in three years during the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket tournament held in Angola, where Nigeria reached the quarter-finals before suffering elimination at the hands of Senegal.

Caleb Agada (Força Lleida)

The Nigerian point guard will be looking to make his mark for his new employers, Hiopos Força Lleida, in the Spanish Liga ACB for the upcoming 2025/26 season.

This would be Agada’s third spell in Spain, where he previously featured for CB Prat and Melilla. His wealth of experience, having traversed seven countries in three continents, will be crucial as Força Lleida opens their campaign with a fixture against Breogan on Saturday, October 4.

The 31-year-old, who featured for the senior men’s national team, D’Tigers, at the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket tournament in Angola, where Nigeria reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Senegal, most recently turned up for Libyan franchise, Al Ahli Tripoli, in the domestic D1 league.

Furthermore, he was one of the biggest contributors as Al Ahli Tripoli emerged champions of the 2025 Basketball Africa League for the first time in their history, after defeating former holders, Petro de Luanda of Angola 88-67 in the final, with Agada making the all-defensive first team of the tournament.

In that final, Agada came off the bench to deliver 10 points, four assists, and two rebounds. He, alongside then Al Ahli Tripoli teammate Jean-Jacques Boissy, APR duo Obadiah Noel and Aliou Diarra, and Teafale Lenard Jr from South African outfit MBB made the all-defensive first team.

Golden girl and D’Tigress veteran, Ezinne Kalu, over the summer teamed up with Women’s Chinese Basketball Association franchise, Wuhan Shengfan, ahead of the 2025/26 WCBA season.

The four-time FIBA Women’s AfroBasket champion continues her sojourn in Asia after also featuring for another WCBA outfit, Zhejiang, during the 2024/25 campaign. In what was her only season for Zhejiang, she averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.5 steals per game in 33 WCBA outings.

The 33-year-old guard played a big part for the senior national team, as they claimed a fifth successive FIBA Women’s AfroBasket title in the Ivory Coast, and a seventh continental crown overall, helping the side to secure an automatic qualification spot for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.

Kalu’s illustrious professional career, although nomadic, has seen her feature for Landerneau in France, Stars in Germany, Vasas Akademia in Hungary, Roma in Italy, Portuguese outfits Olivais and Clube Desportivo Torres Novas, Russian side Dynamo Kursk, as well as Kayseri in Turkey, before the move to Zhejiang in 2024.

Murjanatu Musa (Basket Landes)

The Nigerian star recently signed with French top-flight outfit, Basket Landes, for the 2025/26 season, following a brief stint with WNBA franchise, Phoenix Mercury.

In the 2024/25 season, Musa stood out for Tarbes, where she averaged 14.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, and +20.4 efficiency per game in the French League and 15.6 points, 13.8 rebounds, and +24.9 efficiency per game in the Eurocup.

The 6’2” center also had a great summer at the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket tournament in the Ivory Coast, where the Nigerian national team, D’Tigress, won a fifth straight title and a seventh continental crown overall. At the biennial competition, Musa averaged 7.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and +14 efficiency in 22 minutes per game as Nigeria continued her unbeaten streak at the event dating back to 2015.

Her new team, Tarbes, began the new season with a curtain raiser against Flammes Carolo, in the French LFB Super Cup, which they lost 62-51, with their opening league game against Landerneau Bretagne.

Lauren Ebo (Joventut Badalona)

D’Tigress centre, Lauren Ebo, is set to make her debut in the Liga Femenina Endesa after signing for Spanish side, Club Joventut Badalona, during the summer.

The 6’4” centre, who was a part of Nigeria’s D’Tigress squad that reached the quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, is coming off the back of an incredible stint in Poland with KS Basket, where she averaged 15.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and a 19-efficiency rating per game during the 2023/24 season.

The former University of Texas star will be expected to bolster Badalona’s attack and help impact the team’s defence, as they begin their domestic campaign with a fixture against Jairis on Saturday, October 4.

Source Punch Ng

Posted October 2, 2025