After discovering that he had flair for sports as a young boy, Adewunmi Aderemi knew it was a path he would not want to depart from while the support and encouragement he got from people around him strengthened his resolve. By the time he decided on basketball, it was clear that he was on his way to the top. Aderemi, who is one of the top basketball coaches in the country, told ADEYINKA ADEDIPE that turning players to champions has made him a fulfilled man.PERSEVERANCE, dedication, handwork and the will to excel were some of the key elements that steered Aderemi into becoming a notable figure in Nigerian basketball. Even when the roads were rough and difficult to maneuver, he always found a way out and moved up to the next level in style.It was not a surprise that he has become one of the most successful coaches in the slam and dunk game after becoming a professional coach in 1996. He won seven league titles with Islanders Basketball Club of Lagos in the Premier League and has amassed nine league titles with First Bank (women) Basketball Club where he still works till date.However, his foundation to the top was laid in Egbe, part of the old Kwara State (now in Kogi State), where Aderemi, as a young boy, learnt the rudiments of life quite early while living with his uncle, Dr. Job Abiodun Aderemi, who was the vice principal of Titcomb College in Yagba West Local Council.The encouragement and support he got from his uncle as soon as he showed traces of his sporting acumen at the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) Primary School, which he attended from 1968 to 1974, was also crucial to his development. According to him, his uncle was quick to point out to him the importance of also facing his studies while burning out his energy on the sporting arena.Not one to rubbish a wise counsel, he took his uncle's advice and soon became adept in sports and education at ECWA. He explained: 'I actually started playing football at ECWA as soon as I got admitted in 1968, but had the opportunity to also learn basketball and handball while staying with my uncle at Titcomb, which had all the sporting facilities one could wish for.'Despite taking part in other sports, especially basketball, with secondary students at Titcomb, Aderemi stuck to football at ECWA and got the opportunity to play for the school's first team when he got to primary six in 1974. According to him, 'it was really exciting to play for my school's first team because I had been on the fringe since I got to primary four.'We played a lot of inter-local government championships, missing the trophy a couple of times, and though I was short, I was the main striker and contributed a lot to the development of the team. I played with the likes of Deji Adetoye, Obafemi Oladapo and Babatunji Agbana.'Aderemi said he would have loved to do athletics while in ECWA but his school never organised any inter-house sports competition before he left for Titcomb in 1974, where he easily fitted into the school's sports and academic programmes. Describing himself as multi-talented while at Titcomb, Aderemi revealed that he started playing basketball right from Form 1.'I switched to basketball as soon as I got into Titcomb, but I also played football and volleyball. I became a member of the school's junior team in my first year and was the shooting guard,' he recalled. 'I was multi-talented, but more involved in basketball. We had five basketball courts and we played every time the opportunity presented itself. I also trained with the senior team, where I got better exposure.'He did not have to wait for too long before he was drafted into the senior basketball team alongside Folorunso Babalola and Sunday Omoyiola. He added: 'We were very happy when the games master, Timothy Aluko, invited us into the team. In those days, there was no discrimination and the senior boys in the team encouraged us a lot.'We also counted ourselves lucky because we had about 50 good players who could make the first team. So, being in the first team was a big privilege. We were picked ahead of senior players but they were not envious of our achievement but gave us a big pat on the back.'Combining academics with sports, according to Aderemi, was not difficult because each had its own time and when he lost some time while doing sports, he always found a way to make up. He added: 'It was not actually tedious to combine academics with sports because we had different times for the two activities and when we had to leave school for tournaments, we made up for it when we got back.'I played in the All Secondary Schools Championship in the old Kwara State alongside Olayiwola Moses, Muyiwa Gbadebo, Wunmi Aina and Babajide Suru, Duro Ajayi, Suleman Babatunde and Ayo Aina.'Despite his love for basketball, it was while playing football for Titcomb that he got his nickname, Owolo, which most people address him as, up till today. According to Aderemi, his mates felt he played like Sharks of Port Harcourt's former striker, Martin Owolo, and felt it was appropriate for him to have the name, adding: 'It was really flattering to be likened to a player who was noted for his goal-scoring prowess.'The financial and moral support from his uncle whenever he had to leave the state for championships was also key to his development. After Aderemi left Titcomb in 1979, he taught for a year at ECWA Primary School, Igbaruku, an experience, he said, helped him become a very good coach.In the 1980/81session, he got admission into the Kwara State College of Education to read Physical and Health Education (PE). According to Aderemi, the need to continue with sports motivated him to study Physical Education: 'For me, it was a good thing to be admitted for PE because apart from studying, it also gave me the opportunity to continue with basketball and handball.'He became the captain of the school's basketball team in the first year till he left in 1983, while he also played for the Kwara State basketball team, the Falcons, from 1980 to 1987 as a shooting guard. Aderemi regretted that his team did not do well in the Nigeria College of Education Games (NICEGA) but took solace in the performance of Falcons while he switched to handball to see if he could win a medal.He said: 'My school failed to do well in the qualifiers for the basketball event of the College of Education Games, losing to Adeyemi College of Education in the zonal elimination. But I switched to handball and played with the school team in Minna in 1982 and another edition in Sokoto two years after.'I had a very good time with the Falcons, playing with Oba Sule, Isiaka Kokori, late Rotimi Adewale, Waidi Lafenwa (barbwire), Ani Umanah and Geoffry Obi, among others. We finished second in the 1982 season under the guidance of coach Sule Mohammed, losing to Leventis Basketball Club. We also worked with coaches Barade Bello, Steve Onishola, Anegoh Benjamin, Tunde Abiola and Ajayi Michael.'At that time, dedication was their watchword at Falcons, and made them competitive throughout his stay with the team. The 5ft 7in shooting guard disclosed that he did extra work to make up for his deficiency in height. After graduation, he was posted to Plateau State for the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme and did his primary assignment at Government Secondary School, Kadaroko (now in Nasarawa State).He recounts: 'I really had a great experience at Kadaroko, where I did not only teach PE but was also the games master. I introduced basketball to the school and we won the Local Government Championship three months later.'I was adored in the village and elders contributed money for the school team to travel for games outside the local government. They also came to cheer us when we played at home. I organised friendly games in handball, volleyball and football, and the teams did well.'After his NYSC programme, Aderemi got a job with St Augustine College in Kabba, where he taught Physical and Health Education and also started a sporting revolution in the school: 'When I got to St Augustine in 1985, I was employed to teach PE, Biology and Health Education, but it gave me an opportunity to go back to coaching.'The school was a missionary school and had dilapidated basketball courts, which I ensured was reconstructed three months after I got there. I started working with the kids and taught them the rudiments of the game and before long we were appearing at competitions within the state.'After coming fourth in 1987 with his team, Aderemi won the Kwara State Basketball Championship in 1988 and 1989. He then left St Augustine to further his studies at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). At UNILAG, he became a member of the basketball team in his first year and took part in two editions of the Nigeria Universities Games (NUGA) with the likes of Bukola Ojukoye, Eyo Effiong and many others. On both occasions, they failed to win a medal.After graduation, he refused to go back to his teaching job, a decision that proved costly initially, as he wandered the length and breath of Lagos looking for another job. He soon got lucky when he landed a sales representative job with Rainbow Cosmetics, a job he did for just a year because he never found fulfillment, stating: 'I was still hoping I could find my way back to coaching job, so my job as a sales rep did not give me the fulfillment I was looking for.'Fortune soon smiled on him when he laid hands on one of The Guardian Newspaper editions in 1994 and saw an advert calling for entries for coaching courses in the Nigeria Institute for Sports (NIS). He enrolled for the programme and on completing the course, put in for sports management in the same institution and also started coaching kids at the National Stadium, Surulere.'After my graduation, I started coaching kids and watched the Nigeria Premier Basketball League game, while I marvelled at the coaching skills of former coach of Islanders and proprietor, Toyin Sonoiki. In 1996, I got the opportunity to work with Sonoiki when he came to watch me train the young kids at the NIS. I asked if I could work under him and he agreed.'In 1998, I took over as head coach of Islanders, with Emma Okolo, who is now the coach of the University of Lagos, my assistant. The team won the league six times out of the seven seasons I was with them and finished second once. I must say I owe all that I have achieved in coaching to Sonoiki, who gave me the chance to show what I could do.'He moved over to First Bank Basketball Club in 2002, with which he won nine consecutive titles and two African titles: 'The success I enjoyed was because of the good management I worked with at both clubs. Though we are now second best to First Deepwater, we will surely bounce back,' he assured.Meanwhile, his good work at club level got the attention of the big wigs of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) and he was drafted into the women national team in 1999. He won gold with the team at the 2003 All Africa Games (AAG) in Nigeria as an assistant to Danjuma Dan Azumi, as well as gold in the Nations Cup the same year.In 2005, Aderemi was an assistant to Scott Nnaji when the team also won gold and placed third in the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2006. He was also in the coaching crew that took the women's team to fourth position at the Nations Cup in Senegal in 2007 and won silver at the AAG the same year.In 2010, he was the head coach of the national women U-18 team, which he led to second position at the African Championship, losing 63-62 to host, Egypt. Lagos State has also benefited from Aderemi's experience, which gave the state's female team gold medal at the Imo '98 National Sports Festival and Bauchi 2000, silver in Abuja 2004 and Gateway 2006.He also finished third in Kaduna in 2009 and Port Harcourt last year, and won gold with the male team in Edo State in 2011. Aderemi, 49, who said he would forever be grateful to his uncle and mentor, Sonoiki, noted that working with players who have become stars has made him a fulfilled man.
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