Olafioye to try out for Nigerian national team
For immediate release . . . June 5, 2007

NEW ORLEANS — Olumide Olafioye (oh-LOU-mi-day oh-LA-fee-oh-yay), a sophomore on the Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball team, has accepted an invitation to try out for Nigeria's national team.

The tryout will be conducted in Houston beginning Wednesday (June 6) and continue through July 5. The Nigerians will compete in qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, and the All-African Games on July 11-23 in Algiers, Algeria.

Olumide, a 6-foot-4 guard and a 2004 graduate of River Rouge (Mich.) High School, was Xavier's No. 5 scorer in 2006-07 with 7.6 points per game. He scored 21 of his career-high 27 points in the first half of an 89-64 victory against Philander Smith in The Barn on Nov. 27.

According to wikipedia.org, Nigeria is considered to have one of the three best men's basketball teams in Africa.

Xavier was 22-10 this past season, earned a share of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship and won 10 consecutive GCAC games for the first time in 20 years. The Gold Rush played in the NAIA tourney for a program-record third consecutive time and upset third-seeded Georgetown (Ky.) 82-79 in the opening round for its first NAIA tourney victory since 1973. Olafioye will be one of 10 lettermen returning next season.