:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69469863/1231619701.0.jpg)
BYU Forward Gideon George will have a chance to play on the world’s biggest stage as he was invited to training camp with the Nigerian Basketball National Team for Olympic team tryouts.
A dream come true. Gideon George came from the outdoor courts of Minna and Owerri Nigeria, to New Mexico JC and now BYU.
— JUCOadvocate (@JUCOadvocate) June 17, 2021
Next week, he will be in camp with the Nigerian National Team for Olympic team tryouts.
Amazing. @GideonOmohkudu
#Tokyo2020 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/J1HWKEjY78
Brandon Goble of JUCO Advocate told me that Gideon will leave Sunday to the Bay Area — Nigeria’s camp will be held in the Golden State Warriors facilities. Nigeria’s head coach is Golden State Warriors Associate Head Coach Mike Brown, who has been a NBA head coach at multiple places.
Nigeria has already qualified for the Olympics, now they are just finalizing their roster. Nigeria played in the 2016 Olympics and has multiple NBA players who will likely be on the roster. Gideon will need to have a great camp to make the roster, but Nigeria isn’t super deep at the three spot, so Gideon may have a chance to sneak into one of the final spots.
Gideon’s story is absolutely incredible. He was found at a basketball camp run by JUCO Advocate where George had come 10 hours by bus to attend. He then played at the JUCO level for a couple years and joined BYU last season. Gideon is responsible for thousands of shoes being donated to Africa.
Good luck to Gideon next week as he tries out for Nigeria’s Olympic team! They Olympics begin July 23 in Tokyo, Japan.