Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers have added three players with NBA and G-League backgrounds to their roster ahead of the inaugural Basketball Africa League season, which starts next month in Kigali, Rwanda.
Guard Ben Uzoh, who has played in the NBA with the Nets, Cavaliers, and Raptors and currently plays for the Nigeria national basketball team, tops the list.
He is joined by the American duo of Chris Daniels and Taren Sullivan, both of whom have extensive G-league experience.
Uzoh, 33, was part of Nigeria's 2015 Afrobasket winning squad in Tunisia. He was also a member of D'Tigers team which competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2019 FIBA Men's Basketball World Cup in China.
Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu was thrilled about the signature of D'Tigers star Uzoh.
"I am really excited about having Ben Uzoh on the team," Odaudu said. "He is somebody I have admired for a long time. He is a calm, cool and calculated player with a lot of experience."
Odaudu has worked at close range with Uzoh, having been part of Alex Nwora's coaching staff at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and knows exactly what to expect from his Nigeria super star player.
He added: "It is really exciting having to work with him one more time.
"Ben would bring stability to the team. In all the competitions we have been to, we have had a point guard problem and now we have somebody that can solve that for us.
"We can put the ball in his hands and know that he is going to run our offense the way we want and he is going to control the team. He is going to be the commander of the floor."
Born in Houston, Texas, the widely travelled Uzoh played college ball with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and earned first team All Conference honors in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
He went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft but was signed by the New Jersey Nets. He played for a year in Russia with Lokomotiv Kuban before returning to the NBA with the Toronto Raptors.
Since then, he's traversed the US and Mexico with various teams, and even had a stint in Europe in Belgium and most recently with Paris Basketball before signing with the River Hoopers.
Meanwhile, Daniels was a member of the USA Men's Basketball AmeriCup Qualifying Team in February. He played in both games for the USA helping them to wins over Bahamas (93-77) and Mexico (95-76).
Between 2011 and 2013, the 36-year-old center played 30 games in two seasons in the NBA G-League. He started in 24, averaged 36.5 minutes, 13.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.1 blocked shots a game, while shooting 53.0 percent from the field, 32.8 percent from 3-point and 69.0 percent from the foul line.
Daniels, who last played for the Alaska Aces of the Philippine Basketball Association in 2019, has also played for Santa Cruz Warriors and Erie Bayhawks in the NBA G-League.
Sullivan, a small forward, most recently played for Stockton Kings and Erie BayHawks in NBA G-League.
The 25 year old from Ohio USA averaged 7.7 PPG, 4 RPG in 30 games played in the 2019/2020 season.