Six players have secured automatic scholarships at the fifth Ajayi Elebire Elite Basketball Camp, which ended on Friday with an all-stars game at the Ekitikete Pavilion, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.
The beneficiaries are Ejirinade Neuman, Igwe Ikechukwu, Muiz Salami, Felix Jackson, Destiny Eze and Lucky Anyaorah.
The four-day camp began with a tryout in Lagos, where more than 40 players were selected from across the country. They competed for the available scholarship slots under the watch of top coaches from Nigeria and the United States, who took them through the fundamentals of the game.
The Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Michael Falade, who attended the final day, commended the organisers for taking young people off the streets.
“If you look at the rate of people that are involved in crime, they are youths, and for engaging them in a sport like this, at least you have taken them off the streets,” Falade said.
“When somebody is engaged, you can never do otherwise; you have to do the right thing. Secondly, this is providing work, because when you have the foundation, then there is no way you can miss it.”
One of the foreign coaches invited to the camp, Scott Adubato, who once coached the organiser, Olalekan Ajayi, described it as a great opportunity for talented players to improve their game. He said the coaches worked hard with the players and that Ajayi made it possible.
“The players were prepared every day. We worked on the training. We did everything we needed to teach them different principles of the game. They were very receptive. They played hard to the last game,” Adubato said.
“I think they earned everything that they earned, especially the MVP and the All-Star players. So, a thumbs up to the organisers.”
Ajayi, a former Nigeria international, said the camp was held in honour of his father, Ajayi Elebire. He described his own journey as one of fate, noting that he was discovered through the same camp years ago.
“Every year we come here, we impact the lives of these Nigerian kids. We have a lot of talented players, and we have five scholarships guaranteed. The sky is the limit,” Ajayi said.