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D’Tigers’ Former Coach Mike Brown Hogs All Headlines, Following Sterling Run With New York Knicks In NBA
The name of a former head coach of Nigeria’s men’s basketball national team, D’Tigers, is hogging all headlines in United States of America, as Mike Brown has taken the country’s National Basketball Association (NBA) by storm.
Sports247 reports that Brown, who handled D’Tigers from 2020 to 2022, is leading what has been described as an ‘unbelievable’ NBA title charge for New York Knicks, who also have Nigerian-born Ogugua ‘OG’ Anunoby among their best players.
With Anunoby doing well on the court and Brown firing technical details from the sideline, The Knicks’ run through the 2026 NBA play-offs has been majestic and they enacted yet another huge win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Victory for Brown’s team put Cleveland Cavaliers on the brink of elimination and drew The Knicks 48 minutes closer to an NBA Finals return after more than 25 years, thereby making memories of July 7th, 2025 most symbolic – when they hired him as coach.
That came five years after Brown was announced as the head coach of Nigeria’s men’s team on February 5th, 2020 and his latest deal has been filled with great results, leading to The Knicks’ current surge on a remarkable return to NBA coaching for the tactician.
Before now, Brown hadn’t made the championship round from the bench since 2007, being the longest gap for any coach in NBA history, and his future seemed uncertain after he was fired during his third term at Sacramento Kings in the 2024-25 season.
Incidentally, Brown earlier had two stints with The Cavaliers before taking up the job in Nigeria, but he had yet to reach a magical point with any franchise, until a 130-93 Game 4 win on Monday, another blowout in a closeout, and his name is now ringing loud bells.
Headlines now reveal that Brown is the first Knicks’ head coach – since Jeff Van Gundy in 1999 – who would have a chance to compete for the real thing, while many incredible events of the past month – 11 consecutive wins and two straight series sweeps – have set tongues wagging.
The Knicks are also blowing opponents’ doors off by nearly 22 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions, a margin twice as large as either Western Conference finalist, and New York City appears ready to flaunt NBA’s latest champs in the coming month.
Brown, though, appeared ready all along for the pressure that came with NBA Finals, meeting up to great expectations and ready for the challenge of utilising all he has learnt in three decades on various benches into getting results from his squad.
His past reads like a majestic voyage – Washington Wizards (assistant coach), San Antonio Spurs (assistant), Indiana Pacers (assistant), Cleveland Cavaliers (twice), Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors (associate HC) and Sacramento Kings.
Apart from calling technical shots, Brown also knows how to motivate the lads, as he praised his players for remaining determined for success – despite their recent roll call of huge results and reign of success – and he is repeatedly ready to applaud their form in this post-season.
“(It’s) more so about these players, and they want to go try to get a ring. If an opportunity came up, great; if it didn’t, you know, shoot, I felt lucky, blessed, fortunate. I had a good run, you know? I felt that at some point, I’d get another.
“Whether it was a head coach or an assistant coaching position. I just kind of rolled with it. Didn’t think much about it. Obviously, this opportunity came up. You know, from afar, I just felt that this team was ready,” Brown submitted.
Sports247 reports further that, while the route still appears rough heading into the 2026 NBA Finals, Brown can think about what being the first Knicks’ coach to hoist the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy since Red Holzman in 1973 would mean for him.
News
Ifeanyi Ndukwe Seals Loan Move To Levante Of Spain, After Work Permit Rules Block Deal With Liverpool
Nigerian-born defender Ifeanyi Ndukwe will play this new season on loan at Levante of Spain, after UK Work Permit restrictions blocked clearance papers that would have allowed him to play in the English Premier League.
Sports247 gathered that the Spanish side have already added Ndukwe’s name to their roster for the season, following his arrival from Liverpool, which he joined from Austria Wien this summer, before which both clubs had agreed to a deal for him in January.
Ndukwe went on to twinkle bright in Liverpool’s pre-season games, but strict rules of UK’s Home Office prevented him from getting a work permit, thereby making him ineligible to play in England and The Reds had to ship him out before the beginning of the new campaign this weekend.
A report by One Football noted, “The 18-year-old was outstanding in pre-season, particularly in the 3-2 defeat to AS Monaco at Anfield. He looked composed alongside Virgil van Dijk.
“Liverpool’s director of global talent, Matt Newberry identified Ndukwe as a player who could eventually break into the first team. The Austrian youngster is an imposing centre-back with recovery pace and outstanding tackling skills, while he is also comfortable with the ball at his feet.
“However, Ndukwe is ineligible to play for Liverpool this season because he does not have a work permit. Liverpool believe Levante offers a good environment for young players to develop, which played a key role in their decision to allow Ndukwe to join them.
“Ndukwe will have the opportunity to gain more first-team experience at Levante. He could be part of Liverpool’s senior side in the 2027/28 season if he impresses with the La Liga outfit.”
Sports247 reports further that the move to Levante provides another opening for Ndukwe, who was born in Vienna, Austria, to a Nigerian father and Russian mother, who backed his football career, which he started at Brigittenau before joining the academy of Wien in 2016.
He captained Austria Wien at under-16 level, prior to being a regular starter with the second team in the 2024/2025 season, when they secured promotion to the 2. Liga, following which he signed a three-year professional contract with the club’s senior squad in June 2025.
On January 26th, 2026, Ndukwe officially joined Liverpool in a deal that was valued at an initial £2.6m (€3m), with additional performance-related add-ons potentially increasing the total fee, which was finalised on March 3rd, once he became eligible upon turning 18.
The Federal Government is moving to digitalise Nigeria’s cooperative sector, with State Directors of Cooperatives across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) being tasked with driving the programme at state and community levels.
The directive was issued during a National Technical Workshop on Cooperative Sector Digitalisation organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with its technical partner, Seamfix Limited, according to a statement by the government agency.
At the centre of the digitalisation programme is the National Cooperative Smart Registry (NCSR), a digital platform being developed to support the registration, verification and data management of cooperative organisations and their members across Nigeria.
Under the proposed system, cooperative organisations will receive a Cooperative Verification Number (CVN), while individual members will be assigned a Cooperative Member Identification Number (CoopID).
The government says the identifiers will strengthen the registration, verification and monitoring of cooperatives while providing a more reliable digital record of organisations and their members.
Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, says the Federal Government cannot digitalise the cooperative sector from Abuja alone, making the involvement of state cooperative departments critical to the programme’s implementation.
He therefore urged the State Directors of Cooperatives to take ownership of the initiative and ensure that the digitalisation effort reaches cooperatives and their members at the grassroots.
The digital infrastructure, the ministry says, is also expected to generate verified cooperative-sector data that can support financing, credit profiling and risk management.
The data could help government institutions and development partners identify verified cooperative organisations and members for targeted interventions, financing and other forms of support.
The digitalisation drive is part of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme 2030, which the Federal Government says is designed to modernise Nigeria’s cooperative sector and strengthen its contribution to financial inclusion and economic development.
The initiative is also expected to address longstanding challenges around fragmented cooperative records, verification and access to reliable sector data by creating a centralised digital registry.
During the workshop, Seamfix Limited conducted a live demonstration of the digital platform, giving state cooperative officials an opportunity to see how the proposed system will support registration and verification processes.
The Federal Government is now looking to state cooperative authorities to translate the national digitalisation framework into implementation at state and community levels as the NCSR rollout progresses.
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