Louis Edem
Two-time Nigerian basketball league most valuable player Louis Edem Ekpenyong is set to host an elite national basketball championship from February 7-11th 2023 in honour of his father who passed on during the COVID pandemic in 2020.
The tournament is set to feature eight premier league teams from across Nigeria competing for the grand price of two million Naira with the runners-up going home with a million Naira.
The tournament’s MVP award named after his father Francis Ekpenyong who was an engineer.
The winner of the award will cart away with a thousand Naira cash reward.
Edem who is now an Information Technology Engineer in Maryland, United States in high praise of his dad said the tournament is to honour of the man for the role he played in his life.
“He played a major role in who I am today”
“ I don’t pay tithes to any church, so this is my tithe. I giving back to the basketball community which I love and care about so much and to do this in honour of my father means everything to me”, he added.
The one time West African Universities’ League MVP and two time Nigeria Basketball League MVP started his professional playing career in 1998 where he debuted for Kada stars of kaduna in the then 7up Premier League.
He later played for Jigawa Rocks in 2000 and Yelwa Hawks of Bauchi from 2001 to 2003, before joining Union Bank Basketball Club in 2004 till 2006 where he took his talents of the shores of Nigeria to play in international leagues across the globe.
The tournament will be hosted at the National Stadium, Surulere Lagos and is expected to be engaging and richly rewarding for the basketball community in Nigeria.