Nigerian Premier League (basketball)

The Nigerian Premier Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NPL, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Nigeria. The league consists of sixteen teams who are categorized into two conferences based on the geographical location. These conferences are Savannah and the Atlantic.

Nigerian Premier League

Organising body	Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF)
Founded	1995
First season	1995
Country	Nigeria
Confederation	FIBA Africa
Divisions	2
Number of teams	24 (2023)
Relegation to	NBBF National Division One
International cup(s)	Basketball Africa League
Current champions	Rivers Hoopers (5th title) (2023)
Most championships	Kano Pillars (7 titles)
2023 Nigerian Basketball Premier League

Format

The league usually spans from March till mid year. Each team plays a total of 14 games in a regular season after which the top four teams qualify for the Final Eight Playoffs which usually takes place at the National Stadium Surulere Lagos. The team at the bottom of the table in each conference is relegated from the league. Towards the end of the year, the Division 1 Championship is held to determine who will be promoted to the DSTV League for the new season. In the 2014 season, Royal Hoopers of Rivers State and Niger Potter of Nigers State were both relegated from the Atlantic and Savannah Conference respectively. Accordingly, the Delta Force and FCT Rocks were promoted to the league having won the Division 1 Championship in November 2014.

Amendments were made to the schedule of events this season. At the end of the season, the top six teams from each conference will play conference playoffs to determine the winner of each conference before the top four of each conference will play the Final Eight Playoffs to determine the league winner. This is to increase the number of games played by each team in a particular season.

History

The Nigerian Premier League was founded in 1995.^[1]

In 2017, Nigeria Basketball Federation reached an agreement with Kwese Sports for the title rights of the league. The deal runs till 2021, and it was worth $12 million.^[2]

Since 2021, the champions of the Premier League qualify directly for the regular season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), Africa's new first-tier created as a joint venture by the NBA and FIBA.

In the 2021 season, the league was organised by the Nigerian Ministry of Youth and Sports , after they earlier dissolved the caretaker committee of the NBBF.^[3] FIBA rules prohibit governments from intervening in federations, which is why the championship was ruled illegitimate. As a result, the 2021 champions Rivers Hoopers were excluded from participation in the 2022 BAL season.^[4]

Sponsorships

For sponsorship reasons the league has known several names in its existence. The league was sponsored by the DSTV until 2017, who had both title and TV rights through the contract agreement. The league was then referred to as the DSTV Premier Basketball League.

• 7up Premier League
• Vmobile Premier League (2006)^[5][6]
• DSTV Premier Basketball League (2017)

List of winners

Season	Champions	Runner-up	Finals score	Finals venue	Ref.
2023	Rivers Hoopers	Gboko City Chiefs	Round-robin	Rivers State Complex, Port Harcourt	^[7]
2022	Kwara Falcons	Nigeria Customs	78–53	National Stadium, Lagos	^[8]
2021^1	Rivers Hoopers	Gombe Bulls	74–57	Abuja Sports Hall, Abuja	^[9]
2020	Not held
2019	Rivers Hoopers	Raptors	97–57	National Stadium, Lagos	^[10]
2018	Gombe Bulls	Kwara Falcons			^[11]
2017	Kano Pillars	Gombe Bulls			^[12]
2016	Kano Pillars	Nigeria Customs			^[13]
2015	Mark Mentors	Kano Pillars			^[14]
2014	Kano Pillars	Mark Mentors			^[15]
2013	Kano Pillars	Union Bank			^[16]
2012	Royal Hoopers	Kano Pillars			^[17]
2011	Royal Hoopers	Kano Pillars			^[17]
2010	Kano Pillars	Union Bank			^[18]
2009	Kano Pillars	Lagos Islanders	83–72	National Stadium, Lagos	^[16]
2008	Kano Pillars	Union Bank			^[19]
2007	Ebun Comets	Union Bank	74–64		^[20]
2006	Plateau Peaks	Dodan Warriors	2–0^[a]	Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna	^[5]
2005	Ebun Comets	Niger Potters	Round-robin		^[22]^[23]
2003	Ebun Comets				^[24]
2001	Lagos Islanders	Plateau Peaks	70–55		^[25]
2000	Lagos Islanders
1999	Lagos Islanders
1998	Lagos Islanders
1997	Lagos Islanders

¹ The 2021 season was not organised by the NBBF, but by the Nigerian Ministry of Youth and Sports in a response to the lack of . FIBA did not recognise Rivers Hoopers as champions, which caused them to lose their place in the 2022 BAL season.

Titles by club

Club	Champions	Runners-up	Years won
Kano Pillars	7	2	2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
Lagos Islanders	5	0	1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
Rivers Hoopers	5	0	2011, 2012, 2019, 2021, 2023
Ebun Comets	3	0	2003, 2005, 2007
Gombe Bulls	1	2	2018
Plateau Peaks	1	1	2006
Kwara Falcons	1	1	2022

Clubs

Savannah Conference

Club	City
Mark Mentors	Abuja
Bauchi Nets	Bauchi
Kano Pillars	Kano
Civil Defenders	Abuja
Plateau Peaks	Jos
Gombe Bulls	Gombe
Niger Potters	Minna
Kada Stars	Kaduna

Atlantic Conference

Club	City
Oluyole Warriors	Ibadan
Delta Force	Asaba
Hoops And Read	Lagos
Nigeria Customs	Lagos
NAF Rockets	Lagos
Police Baton	Lagos
CAMAC	Bayelsa
Kwara Falcons	Ilorin
Rivers Hoopers	Port-Harcourt

In the Basketball Africa League

The champions of the Nigerian Premier League qualify directly to the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Two teams, namely Rivers Hoopers and Kwara Falcons, have represented the country in the BAL thus far.

Season	Representative	Road to BAL					Main competition
		W	L	Result	Qualified		W	L	Result
2021	Rivers Hoopers	Directly qualified					1	2	3rd in Group Phase
2022	Rivers Hoopers	Directly qualified					Disqualified
2023	Kwara Falcons	Directly qualified					0	5	6th in Sahara Conference
Total		–	–				1	7

Individual awards

In some seasons, the NBBF has awarded individual awards to the best performing players of a given Premier League season.

Most Valuable Player

• 2009 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars^[26]
• 2011 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars^[27]
• 2012 – Azuoma Dike, Royal Hoopers^[28]
• 2013 – Azuoma Dike, Kano Pillars^[29]
• 2014 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars^[30]
• 2015 – Abdul Yahaya, Royal Hoopers^[31]
• 2016 – Abubakar Usman, Kano Pillars^[32]
• 2018 – Ibe Agu, Gombe Bulls^[33]
• 2019 – Abdul Yahaya, Rivers Hoopers^[34]
• 2021 – Anaiye Johnson, Rivers Hoopers^[35]

Finals Most Valuable Player

• 2017 – Nwafor Joseph, Kano Pillars^[36]
• 2021 – Victor Anthony Koko, Rivers Hoopers^[37]
• 2022 – Dada Samuel, Kwara Falcons^[8]

References

1. Akalonu, Eddie (1 September 2002). "Nigeria: Islanders Kings Again". Vanguard.
2. Joshua, Odeyemi (9 April 2017). . Daily Trust. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
3. "Sports ministry dissolves NBBF caretaker committee". TheCable. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
4. "Why did Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers get booted out of the BAL?". ESPN.com. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
5. Ayinor, Pius (1 August 2006). "Nigeria: Vmobile League - Peaks to Keep Trophy Forever". AllAfrica.com. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
6. "Nigeria: Vmobile League: the Creation of Bumper Basketball". This Day. 26 March 2005.
7. Busari, Niyi. "Rivers Hoopers Crowned NBBF Final 4 Champions, Pick BAL Ticket". BSN Sports. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
8. Omoniyi, Oluwaferanmi (13 November 2022). "NBBF Final 8: Kwara Falcons wins first title as High school student emereges MVP". Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
9. Saliu, Mohammed (18 November 2021). "Rivers Hoopers Knock Bulls to Claim Championship, BAL TIcket". Brila.net. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
10. "River Hoopers win 2019 NBBF President's Cup, qualify for Basketball Africa League". 18 November 2019.
11. "Gombe Bulls win 2018 Kwese Basketball League, get N20m prize". Daily Trust. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
12. "Basketball: Kano Pillars Clinch Kwese League title". September 9, 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
13. "Kano Pillars Crowned Champions Of The 2016 DSTV Premier Basketball League". Eagle Online. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
14. "Mark Mentors Win DSTV Basketball League". Channels Television. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
15. "Mark Mentors Win DSTV Basketball League". 15 August 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
16. "Basketball: Kano Pillars Emerge Champions of DSTV PBL". Information Nigeria. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
17. "Royal Hoopers Retain DStv Men's Basketball League Title". Tide News. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
18. "Kano Pillars Wins 2013 DSTV Basketball League". Retrieved 13 September 2017.
19. "Nigeria - Kano Pillars win Premier Basketball League". FIBA.basketball. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
20. "Nigeria - Comets Win Premier League, Qualify for African Cup". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
21. [1]
22. "NGR - Comets, Customs in VMobile Premier League opener". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
23. "Nigeria: Vmobile League: Final Table Reads Upside Down".
24. "Ebun Comets Lagos". Eurobasket LLC. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
25. "Nigeria: Islanders Win 7-Up Basketball League Again". P.M. News (Lagos). 31 July 2001.
26. "NGR - Kano Pillars emerge Nigerian league champions". FIBA.basketball. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
27. "NGR - Nigeria name 16-man squad for training camp". FIBA.basketball. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
28. Afrbk: 15:50. "Basketball in Africa: NIGERIA : Premier Basketball League: Royal Hoopers BC road to glory". Retrieved 25 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
29. "Kano Pillars wins Nigerian Basketball league". Nigerian Bulletin. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
30. "Basketball in Africa: NIGERIA : MVP Usman Inspires Kano Pillars to Victory". Retrieved 25 November 2023.
31. "Rivers Hoopers boost squad with Yahaya and Akita, set eyes on Elite 8". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 25 November 2023. The 28-year-old Yahaya helped Mark Mentors to the Nigeria domestic league title in 2015 where he emerged as the Most Valuable Player [...]
32. "Nigeria new champions Kano Pillars qualify for FIBA Africa Champions Cup Zone 3 qualifier". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
33. Moseph, Queen (10 October 2018). "2018 my greatest in basketball - Abdulrahman Mohammed". ACLSports. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
34. "Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers secure BAL ticket". FIBA.basketball. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
35. Saliu, Mohammed (18 November 2021). "Rivers Hoopers Knock Bulls to Claim Championship, BAL TIcket". Latest Sports News In Nigeria. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
36. "NWAFOR JOSEPH`S DOUBLE DOUBLE COULDN`T SECURE KANO PILLARS` FIRST WIN OF THE SERI MUTIARA CUP 2017". bballnaija.com. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
37. "https://twitter.com/RiversHoopers/status/1460823515024793602". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 25 November 2023. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)

Notes

1. In the 2006 season, the Premier League final was played in a best-of-three series.^[21]

External links

• BballNaija