The Lagos State Basketball League has been renamed to Eko Basketball League by the Lagos State Basketball Association (LSBBA) with tipoff scheduled for Sunday June 23rd.
At the Pre-season Press Conference of the Lagos State Basketball Association held in Lagos on Wednesday, the Vice Chairman Olumide Oyedeji disclosed the name change and unveiled the mascot.
Oyedeji also announced that eight teams will participate in the Men’s League while six teams will compete in the Women’s League.
The teams include: NAF Rockets, Flames, Dodan Warriors, Raptors, VGC, Police Baton, Customs, Hoops and Read for the men’s league while the womens league will have First Bank Basketball Club, MFM, IGP Queens, Dolphins, First Deep Water and Raptors.
A total of 14 games will be played in the Men’s League in a home and away format while 10 games for the Women’s League in same format.
In the Men’s League, top 2 teams during the regular season will advance straight to the semis while the 3rd, 4th and 6th ranked teams will play the quarter final Best of 3 Games.
Top 2 from the regular season will be joined by winners of the quarter final in the semi final while winners will play the Championship Game.
For the Women’s League, Top 4 teams will progress to the semi final in a home and away format while winners will play the Championship Game.
Oyedeji said, “The future of the game is bright in Lagos State, the future of the players is bright. There will be a lot of improvement, a lot of exciting games and scouting of players too. We also intend to showcase the game on TV especially on our YouTube channel.
The former D’Tigers captain added that there will also be Eko Youth Basketball League, Classic and Championship for grassroots development in the State.
“This will serve as grassroots and development programme for the teams in Eko Basketball League also for the Academies in the State, boys and girls in two categories, Under-13 and Under-16.
“The programme will depend on the registered teams from 4 zones: Ikeja, Epe, Ikorodu, and Mainland and they will be divided into divisions.
During her opening remarks, chairperson of the Lagos State Basketball Association Barbara Harper said her board will make sure they rebrand the Lagos Basketball League as promised during the Annual General Meeting in December.
“In December, we promised we were going to rejuvenate and revitalise basketball in Lagos. And despite the challenges we are going through we are confident that we will get over them pretty soon with determination.”
“Part of our plan is to rebrand the Lagos Basketball League so that it wears a new dynamic modern face and so it represents what we stand for. We will be unveiling our new name and the mascot of the Lagos State Basketball League,” Harper added.
