Utah Jazz guard Josh Okogie will lead a strengthened Nigeria roster, lined with NBA and NBA G League experience, into the fourth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers in Tunisia this month.
Okogie headlines a 12-man D'Tigers squad that also includes Chimezie Metu, Chima Moneke and former NBA first-round pick Udoka Azubuike as Nigeria begin the second round of qualification for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar.
Okogie's inclusion gives D'Tigers a current NBA player for the first time in this World Cup qualifying campaign and comes almost exactly a year after his last appearance for the national team.
The 27-year-old, then with the Houston Rockets, played all four games for Nigeria at the 2025 AfroBasket in Angola, averaging a team-high 14.5 points along with four rebounds and four assists.
His best performance came against defending champions Tunisia, when he scored 33 points in an 87-66 group-stage victory and his last appearance for Nigeria came in the 91-75 quarterfinal loss to Senegal on August 20, 2025, when he finished with four points, four rebounds and three assists.
These will be Josh Okogie's first games with Nigeria since leaving the Houston Rockets for the Utah Jazz. Wang Guansen/Xinhua via Getty Images He has since moved to Utah after spending last season with the Rockets. The Jazz signed the former Minnesota Timberwolves first-round pick to a two-year, $12 million contract in July after he appeared in 78 games for Houston and shot a career-best 38.5% from 3-point range.
His Nigeria history is more extensive. Okogie represented the country at the 2019 World Cup in China, where the team secured Africa's automatic qualification place for the Tokyo Olympics, and was part of the Nigeria squad at the Games in 2021 before returning for AfroBasket last year.
His return is part of a roster overhaul from the team that completed the first round of World Cup qualifying in July.
Only four of the 12 players listed for Nigeria in the previous window have been retained by coach David Fizdale - Caleb Agada, Metu, Ike Nwamu and Stanley Okoye.
Missing from that roster are Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu, Paul Dibal, Michael Eric, Martins Igbanu, Ike Iroegbu, Uche Iroegbu, Christian Mekowulu and Daniel Utomi.