Basketball enthusiasts set to honour late Aboderin

By Babatunde Ogunrinde

Some stakeholders in basketball on Monday said that the Dolphins Basketball Gym will once again come alive when they honour late Wake Aboderin with a memorial match.

Aboderin, who founded the Dolphins Basketball Club in 1997, had left an unrivalled legacy, contributing immensely to the basketball community in Nigeria, especially developing women through the sport.

A spokesperson of the group, Philip Braide, said that the event would come up on June 18 at the Basketball Gym in Lagos where past players of the club would come together in honour of Aboderin.

The basketball club boasts of a standard indoor hall, swimming pool, workout gym and hostel as it had over the years, enhanced performance of players from the grassroots to the elite level.

An ex-international Lateef Erinfolami, a veteran in the sport, told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) that Aboderin deserved the accolades for his contributions to the sport.

He said that it was great thing people were coming together to honour him, because during his lifetime, he gave his all to the sport.

“Aboderin was a philanthropist, he assisted many young players in their areas of education and their passion to okay basketball in the league and overseas.

“He was a great man that should be remembered because his resume speaks a volume of his contributions to the development of basketball in Nigeria.

“His team, Dolphins Basketball Club, also had provided the national team with top quality players that went on to win national, continental trophies.

“He brought up young girls who would not have ventured into the sport but for him, he even helped their families with financial support and educational schoraship,”Erinfolami said.

NAN recalls that Dolphins Basketball Club were city rivals to First Bank of Lagos and Deepwater Basketball Club of Lagos.

The team also won the 2014 FIBA Afrobasket Zonal Club Championships in Burkina Faso.

Late Aboderin, was a journalist and sports administrator, who passed on in May 2018, following a heart related sickness.

(NAN)