Watching Daudu Adeka pilot affairs from the Dodan Warriors' bench, one cannot but admire his passion for the game of basketball, which he also played to the highest level before becoming a coach. He also played tennis, table tennis, badminton, volleyball and football, but it was table tennis that brought him to Lagos for the first time while he was in the primary school. Adeka told ADEYINKA ADEDIPE that he owes his foray into sports to his father, who took him to the tennis court as a young boy.GROWING up in Karo and Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna State was eventful for Daudu Adeka, introduced to sports by his father, whom he accompanied to the tennis courts as a young boy. While the older Adeka was on the court with his friends, his son marvelled at the way the game was played and always got his opportunity to knock few back around after acting as ball boy for his dad and his friends.Adeka's father also played volleyball and it got him wondering how his father could combine both sports with his tight schedule. When the older Adeka realised his son had interest in tennis, he took it upon himself to teach him the rudiments of the game.According to Adeka, his father painstakingly taught him the basics of tennis. He also revealed that living in the Air Force barrack with his father, who was an officer, also influenced his decision to partake in sports.'In the barracks, we had all the sporting facilities one could think of then and incidentally some of them were behind my building,' he said.In 1970, Adeka was admitted into Baptist Primary School (now LEA Primary School) Karo. At Baptist School, according to Adeka, he took to table tennis and grasped the rudiments of the game easily because of the similarities it had with tennis. 'To me, table tennis was like the smaller version of tennis,' he added.With time, Adeka got better than his peers who he played with after school. 'We played no competition but I was definitely better than my mates. The fact that I played tennis before school also helped my development in table tennis. I was also fortunate to have a father who took interest in my games, just as the availability of facilities in the barracks was also instrumental to my love for sports.'In the barracks, we had the tennis court, volleyball and basketball courts and I frequented this facilities to see people play; learning at the feet of the masters,' he added.While playing table tennis after school, Coach Ganiu, who later became the state coach, took interest in Adeka and his friends and taught them the technical aspect of the game.The hardwork Adeka put into developing his game yielded dividend in 1974, when he was among young boys selected to represent Kaduna State (former North Central State) in the Interstate Junior Table Tennis championship in Lagos.For someone, who was coming to Lagos for the first time, he was marvelled by the city and the experience he got in the state.'Travelling to Lagos held a special attraction for me and I was determined to make the best use of the trip,' he reminisced.When he got into the table tennis hall of the National Stadium, the first thing that drew his attention was the well arranged boards, which he admitted he was seeing for the first time. Unfortunately for Adeka and his teammates, they failed to go beyond the first round, but he admitted that competing among the best in Lagos opened his eyes to things he didn't know.'The competition in Lagos was very tough for me and my teammates. We tried our best but we were beaten in the first round. My main rival in school, one Martins, also failed but I took back some positives to school.'For example, for the first time I understood what a rally was and I took it to the secondary school and I became a better player. We were also given a playing bat each and that really encouraged me the more. I think not playing competitions among schools in Kaduna also affected us in Lagos,' he confessed.In 1977, he got admitted into the Government Secondary School, Birnin-Gwari where his table tennis prowess got houses scrambling to have him but it was Yellow House that got him.In his first year in the secondary school, he played an inter house table-tennis competition where he defeated others to emerge champions. He explained: 'Winning the competition made me a small hero and everyone's darling. Most of the seniors were impressed with my performance and they really encouraged me.'When Adeka got to form two, Martins who was his main rival in primary school also got admitted into Adeka's school and they both teamed up to form a strong team.Unlike in the primary school, where he only played among his peers, Adeka travelled with his school team to Government Secondary School, Bida, Government Secondary School, Kafanchan and Government College Secondary School for competitions where they recorded victories.The school's sports team travelled together and he saw first hand, what the players in the team sports enjoyed. From this point, he began to see table tennis as individualistic and wanted a sport where he could share victory with teammates.When he got into class three, he started playing football where he became a striker. He also played basketball, volleyball, did a little bit of badminton and table tennis.Adeka was also one of the founding members of his secondary school's basketball team. He was involved in the building of the school's court, which was supervised by an army officer sent to the school to help in sports development.'Those of us who did sports at the time were very lucky to work with people who were ready to help us grow. For the Government Secondary School Basketball programme, an army officer was sent to our school, and this officer supervised the building of our school sports and we started learning how to play.'I had contact with the game while growing up under the guidance of Squadron Leader Martin Olufolorunso Luther, who was sentenced to death for one of the failed coups against the regime of Gen. Badamosi Babangida. While training behind my house, I got interested in basketball, I picked balls for Luther and he started teaching me how to shoot. So, when I got to the secondary school, it wasn't difficult for me to understand the game,' he explained.It was a hectic schedule for Adeka who combined various sports with his studies.According to Adeka, 'Training was very hectic in those days. I will do basketball for 30 minutes; shift over to football, volleyball and still found time for badminton.'He admitted that sports affected his studies seriously, adding that he still managed to be an average student. In the 1978/79 season, his school was the state FA Cup champions and they played against DIC of Aladja at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium. The game ended 0-0 in regulation time but DIC prevailed in extra time.'It was great playing against a more experienced team and that was the first time I would be playing at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium. That will forever remain in my memory,' he added.His sterling qualities earned him the position of the school Head Boy, though Adeka had wanted to be the Games Prefect. Before leaving the secondary school in 1982, he had started playing for the Nigeria Air Force Basketball team in Kaduna and joined the team fully after leaving the secondary school.His father wanted him to join the Air Force where he felt his son would have a career in sports. Adeka refused because he wanted to go to the university. However, he settled for basketball becoming an established member of the Air Force team, a year after he left secondary school.He was invited to the Kaduna State team in preparation for a national championship, which was later called off. However, Adeka still came to Lagos that same year and his father helped him secure a store assistant job at the Nigeria Air Force base, Ikeja, which enabled him get into the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Rocket basketball team.'At the NAF Rockets, I was exposed to better training and our coach, Phillip Aduwak, helped us a lot. I had teammates like Philip Musa, Tijani Umar, Sanni Ahmed, Tunji Awojobi, and Toyin Sonoiki among others. Playing in the league for me was a new challenge; it was like I was coming into the game afresh and by now, I played only basketball while I played tennis for leisure.'I won the Division one league title with the Rockets in the 1984/85 season and we got promoted to the Premier League that was then sponsored by 7Up,' he added.He caught the attention of the national team selectors and he was invited to the national team where he met the likes of Scott Nnaji, Lateef Erinfolami and Yashim, who was called computer, in preparation for the Nations Cup qualifier.'The team was under the tutelage of Alabi Adelanwa and Ganiu Otenigbagbe and two Americans, who were here under an exchange programme. After the first phase of camping, we were released and told to come back in January 1985 but I failed to show up after deciding to enlist in the Air Force. That was how I missed the Nations Cup. It was Coach Dauda Jatau, who actually convinced me to join the Force.According to Adeka, he had no regret missing the Nations Cup because he achieved his aim of becoming a power plant engineer after graduating from the NAF Engineering School in 1987.While in the Engineering School, he played for the NAF Rockets that was in the Premier League. In 1990, he was in the Nigerian team to the World Military Games in Dijon, France. The team had the likes of Col. Sam Ahmedu (rtd), Sanni Ahmed, Brig.-Gen. J.G. Yakubu, who was called Stars Five. Though the team failed to win a medal, Adeka got his career high of 37 points against The Netherlands.In 1988, Adeka was in the Lagos State Basketball team to the National Sports Festival (NSF), which the state hosted. The team finished fourth.As he was playing for the NAF Rockets, the thought of what he would do after quitting basketball and the Air Force came to his mind.'In 1996, I started acting as assistant coach to the Nigeria Customs team who were using the Air Force facility to train. Together with the NAF coach, we took Customs to Ilorin for the division one and the team qualified to play in the Premier League.After that experience, he was sure he would make a career as a coach. So, when the offer came to help groom the Dodan Warriors Basketball Club beckoned, he jumped at it, while still playing for the NAF team, which was taken over by the Armed Forces and renamed the Armed Forces Dragon.In 1998, he stopped playing and decided it was time for him to go into coaching. 'When I stopped playing, I was at the National Institute for Sports in 1998 after getting permission from the Air Force but the course was paid for by the Warriors management and after I finished the course, I became the team's coach. At a point, the warriors officially requested for me to coach the team, which was granted in the 1999/2000 season,' he said.In 2003, Adeka requested to be allowed to go on voluntary discharge, which was granted in 2004. He then took up the coaching job at the Warriors full time.As a coach, Adeka won the Division One title with the Warriors in 1997 and the best position the team have attained in the Premier League was a third place finish in the 2010/2011 season. He also handled the Bauchi Nets briefly.He was also the assistant coach of the junior team in 2002 that won the African Junior Championship. In 2004, he was the coach of the Under-21 team that won the African Championship. He had the opportunity to call the shots when he led the junior national team to the African title in 2006.In 2011, he was an assistant to Sanni Ahmed in the D'Tigers team for the Nations Cup qualifiers in Togo, but was not with the team at the All African Games in Mozambique, which he said was his only regret.He won the first male title of the Milo Basketball Championship in 2000/2001 and also won the Akofa Secondary School Basketball Championship in 2000, 2001 and 2002 with the Lebanese Community School.
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