D’Tigers assistant captain and former Cleveland Cavaliers centre Michael Eric talks about his journey into basketball, the lessons he learnt from his late father, Nigeria’s FIBA World Cup qualifying and more in this interview with PETER AKINBO
How did you start playing basketball?
I wasn’t interested in basketball at first. Football was what I loved, just like almost every child in Nigeria, not least because my father, Joseph Eric, played football too and later coached. It was only after a growth spurt as a teenager, and a trip to the United States to stay with my elder brother, Stephen, that I was persuaded to pursue the sport. My friend, Gbenga Jetawo, and my coach, Chris Nomigo, also helped me fall in love with the game and focus on getting better. I eventually earned a scholarship to Temple University in Philadelphia before the Cleveland Cavaliers signed me in 2013.
Tell us more about the basketball camp you run and what inspired it.
While you are having fun, you also have to be aware that this could be an opportunity of a lifetime. I am trying to bring that to the country, to my own neighbourhood. It might not be on a big scale yet, but one day we will get to a scale where we can give kids a pathway to pursue their dream in basketball first, and education will come with it as well. That is the goal of this camp.
As assistant captain of the D’Tigers, what would you like to see change about how the game is developed in Nigeria, from the grassroots upward?
It is about having the right resources; the right facilities, the right gear and the right fitness instruction. That is the difference I see between us and the European academies producing kids who get drafted at 17 or 18 years old. We have the talent in Nigeria. We have the length, the God-given ability, the athleticism and the perseverance, but the resources are limited. Part of what I am trying to do is create a little more of that resource, so these kids have the hope to keep working hard.
The D’Tigers have another window to qualify for the World Cup. What are you looking for this time?
It looks great. We are going to have a better group of guys, even though we already worked with a good group. Coach David Fitzdale has a vision for this new group. There are so many Nigerian players out there that we can barely filter through them all, but he is doing a very good job of putting the right group together. The goal is to win all three games we play, so we can qualify without too much stress.
How much longer do you see yourself playing?
I am getting close. Age is nothing but a number, but it sometimes tells you the right time. This will be my 15th year playing professional basketball, so after this year, maybe, maybe not.
What have been the biggest lessons you learnt from your father, Joseph Erico?
He always told me it is not about you, that I am here for a reason and that my gift is given to me by God, so I should use it to give back, to take care of the people I can and to inspire anyone I get the chance to. Anyone who has met him always feels that inspiration, even at the airport. He is always saying something about how to elevate your life and consistently be present for someone else. I have taken that very deeply. At the end of the day, I have lived what I can live and enjoyed the experience of basketball, but I have to come back home and make sure something is done the right way, and that kids are inspired by watching me play and give back.
What message do you have for other Nigerian sportsmen abroad, in relation to what you are doing?
Come back home. Home is where the heart is. America, or wherever else we reside, is amazing, but come back home and impact your neighbourhood, impact where your father is from, because that is where we are from. We are from the soil; we are from Nigeria. I take a lot of pride in that. I was born and raised here. I have spent half my life in America, but that does not mean this is not home. Family is still here, friends are still here, and the nation is still part of me. I would tell my fellow players out there to come back home and spend their time here, because it is worth it. That is where the heart is. I have an eight-year-old daughter who is in the United States with my wife. She’s five feet tall already, and I plan to bring her to Nigeria for the first time next year, to see where I grew up.
Why does it matter so much to you that former players give back this way?
We need our former players and stars to come back and do this kind of work in their own communities, so we can continue to inspire the younger generation and help them dream big too. It means a lot that the kids we are trying to reach now understand they need to graduate and earn a degree, and that they are intentional about getting better. They show up prepared, and that gives me more joy than anything else.
Why do you place so much emphasis on education alongside basketball?
At the end of the day, basketball is just a tool to better your life. Education is very important because basketball can be short-lived. Whether your career is short or long, when you are educated, you can walk into any room, you can talk, you can elevate yourself. You can work in other departments that have nothing to do with sport. That is what education has given me from my own experience. We also try to encourage the parents, because I now see more of them bringing their kids to academic institutions alongside basketball. The gap between education and sport has not closed completely, because some parents still do not see the value in sport, but you cannot force a child into what he does not want to do. You have to encourage the whole development of the child.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
