Nigerian basketball star joins Italian club

The player is very happy to be part of the Italian team.

A member of the Nigerian male basketball team, Jamal Olasewere, has signed a one year deal with Vanoli Cremona basketball club of Italy.

The Long Island University (LIU) student and player who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES from Abidjan said that the contract will last for a year.

“The name of the team I signed for is Vanoli Cremona, I signed for only one year,” he said.

Expressing excitement on his new deal, Jamal, who is currently with the Nigerian team in Cote d’Ivoire, said “I feel good and glad they had enough trust in me to play in that league, and I just plan to help the club any way I can, just focus on what I can control and just help us win the league”.

The player is expected to resume at his club after the ongoing AfroBasket in Ivory Coast, where Nigeria’s team, D’Tigers, has won her first three matches.

The head coach of the club, Luigi Gresta, told the Italian press that his team is excited about the contract.

“We are very pleased to have added to the roster, after so many players from the great experience, a player with a lot of athleticism and freshness of Jamal, an athlete that we followed for some time and which may bring those features that we were looking for. We believe he can do very well in a challenging league like the Italian one and he is very motivated to make this happen. It is obvious that with him initially there will be work especially on some systems and logical defensive players with European experience have already assimilated during the preseason, but we will do just that and the help of fellow team-mates will help integrate him in this regard,” he said.

Cremona finished in 11th place last season with a 13-17 record in the Italian Seri A. The club is poised to give Jamal a good base to start his professional career.