I’m determined to play for D’Tigers -Daniel Owoeye

BY ORJI ONYEKWERE

Daniel Owoeye popularly known as D.O, is a budding basketball talent whose greatest ambition is to play for the national basketball team of Nigeria, D’Tigers.  Owoeye was born in NIgeria, but left for Canada at a tender age, where he spent most of his life. He is back in Nigeria to play for the country he loves so much and he believes he has the potential to become part of  D’Tigers team

Daniel is already working towards that having played for his University Basketball team.  Surprisingly, the former Mount Royal University (Cougars), started off his sporting career playing football in NIgeria, but transitioned to basketball after he moved to Canada.

It wasn’t an easy transition for Owoeye as he faced a lot of challenges due to his inexperience, which made the experienced ones exploit him in the game.

These challenges helped him to build a tough skin with his resilence and never give up spirit.

D.O wanted to continue playing basketball in order to develop his skill, though it didn’t come easy because he was already a good footballer.

So going from using his legs to using his hands was a tough one, which needed a lot of hard work and he wasn’t ready to give up.

“I came into basketball from the basics. I started playing soccer in Nigeria, you know soccer is well played in Nigeria.  I went to Canada and that is when I started to grow. I continued to play soccer because it’s the thing that I love. It’s the sport that I appreciate. And then, as I began to grow, I found basketball. Basketball was something initially that I faced a lot of adversity in. That was due to the fact that, you know, when you first enter this sport, you are inexperienced, but then experienced players will want to feed on that inexperience.

“You come into an area where everyone else is more experienced than you and you are inexperienced. You face a lot of adversities and a lot of challenges. And you have to build your way through that. That is where that resilient and hard-working spirit comes from. That is the basis of it.

“For me, when I started playing basketball, it was like almost seven years ago. It was because of that hard-working spirit that even got me to this level because, I was not even sure I would be able to play at the university level in Canada. This is because, I’m sure as you know, making university sports, even to play at the level where you travel across countries, is extremely hard. And not many people get the opportunity to even experience that”, he said.

His position while playing for Mount Royal University, Canada, was mainly the center position due to his size. For him, some people may see him as not tall enough for such position, but his impact was great while playing for his university. Moving forward, he is adaptable to transition his playing style, and that is what he is working on currently.

At the moment, D.O is focused on developing his skill level so that he can adapt to the next level.

While he is developing his skill level, his eyes is also focused on playing in the NBA in the United States of America, where you have the best basketball players. Owoeye already has in mind the teams he would want to play for in the NBA. One them is Toronto Raptors because of his love for Canada, and  Milwaukee Bucks which has Nigerian born  Yanis Adetokunbo.  He is inspired by Adetokunbo’s story which he said is similar to his own.

His words, ” I see some of my story in him as well.

“So, the inspiration comes from him and I would even be very grateful for the opportunity in the future to meet him. Playing in the NBA, that is a great opportunity because he is still a very young player. But he is experienced enough because he has put in the legwork and come up from nowhere. Nobody knew him and he made it. That is the type of story that I want to push forward because my story is of similar length”.

Owoeye believes in hard work and having watched the likes of late Kobe Bryant and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, got to the height of the career, he saw the advantage of using his height to achieve his God’s given talent. D.O also draws inspiration from the legacy of these great basketball players, whose brilliance and impact have had general positive impact in the world. The athlete understands that getting to the highest level requires total commitment and extra hard work driven by the Nigerian spirit.

D.O explains further: “I started playing basketball from soccer due to the fact that my height was starting to kick in.  When I started to kick in, I wanted to use it for soccer first. But then, I started discovering great players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Then I began to understand the level of commitment it took to use their God-given talents to make not just impact in their sport, but impact around the world. The inspiration from these individuals inspired a drive, a burn as you know, the Nigerian spirit to be great”

Owoeye is in the country to fraternize with the basketball community and also get to know more about the players in the nation team. He wants to understudy the team and also work his way into the team.

“I am here to discover the Nigerian national team. That is the whole basis of why I am here because I have seen the Nigerian national team play before. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the experience to go and watch them at least in person or any of the FIBA games due to the intensity of the program I was in.

“But I want to be able to discover that opportunity in the future, to at least go and experience the environment they are in, and discover the new opportunity there. I am coming in with not very much experience regarding them.

“That is why I am here, to return to my roots, to explore the unknown for me. Because I have spent so long in Canada now, it’s like I enjoyed the environment there, but I miss home. That is why I came back, to experience the energy I haven’t experienced since when I was younger. And to learn more from it and to develop a new sense of pride for our country as well”, Owoeye added.

The basketballer is not just a gifted athlete, but also a humanitarian who wants to impact in his society. Sports teaches more than just the skills one needs for the game, but you also need a good facility that will help build the athletes capacity. This is one area D.O would want to invest in and give back to the society. For instance, players are more comfortable playing in the wooden court because they know that if they fall, they will not sustain much body bruises.

He explains more:

“Playing on for example, a wooden court, it allows players to focus less on the fact that they are going to get injured and the fact that they can play their hardest instead. They won’t be worried about falling down and then getting back up with bruises all over their body. They will be more worried about how they can push themselves to the hardest to finish the game successfully and win whatever game or situation they are in.

“It’s the same thing to go with the nutrition. Nutrition is a big part of it. I see the facility now and I’m seeing that there’s not enough nutrition, even water, available for the players to drink right away. And water is very important for the body, right? It is what our body needs for the blood to flow through our veins in order to be strong. So, water needs to be accessible, good water for players to be able to relieve their dehydration from expending so much energy. I feel like it’s very important for Nigeria to improve its facilities over time

“Obviously, it’s not something that they can change overnight. Nothing can be done overnight. But it’s starting the legwork now and that obviously involves foreign investment as well because foreign investment is important for knowledge because you cannot do anything alone. You have to get outside knowledge in order to be able to build a good perspective”, he added.

Daniel Owoeye aka D.O, is a graduate of nursing and comes from a background where both parents are health care professionals.