One of the largest grassroots basketball events in Nigeria, the Templar-Adrenale Athlete Development Initiative’s final selection event, is scheduled to draw over 200 participants to Lagos.
The recently remodeled Dolphins Basketball Court in Mongoro, Ikeja, will host the event on Saturday, May 23, 2026. It is being held in collaboration with the office of Adeyinka Adeboye, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Grassroots Sports Development, indicating an increase in federal funding for organized youth athlete development in Nigeria.
Scouts and development experts have been traveling the nation for months to find outstanding young talent between the ages of 13 and 18. They started at the National Sports Festival in Abeokuta and continued with in-depth follow-up assessments in several states.
The Templar-Adrenale High-Performance Development Programme, which aims to offer elite basketball training, mentorship, educational support, character development, and international exposure, will accept athletes chosen from the competition as its first official intake, according to the organizers.
In honor of his office’s dedication to promoting grassroots sports and youth development initiatives throughout Nigeria, Adeboye will also receive an international recognition award from partners in the United States during the event.
According to observers, the initiative may usher in a new era in Nigerian sports development, where identifying talent is now the beginning rather than the end of a planned route to greatness.
