Julius Isaac
Julius Nwosu Isaac, a native of Imo State, is the most decorated basketball player ever to come out of Nigeria. At just 14, he founded a basketball team at his school, Government Secondary School Owerri, and went on to dominate the state competition. By 15, he was playing for the senior state team and representing Nigeria’s Junior National Team. He received the Imo Sports Writers’ Award as Best Basketball Player of the Year, and in 1988 won a silver medal at the National School Sports Festival. He continued his career in the United States at Liberty University. There he served as team captain, was a two-time team MVP and earned All-Conference honors. The university retired his jersey in 1997 and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2017, its highest athletic honor. As a professional, Julius played for some of the world’s leading clubs: NBA: the San Antonio Spurs (1994–1995, Western Conference champions) and the Boston Celtics (1996) Europe: CSKA Moscow (Russian champions), Panathinaikos (Greek Cup winners), Galatasaray, Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez (French champions), Cáceres CB and CSU Asesoft Ploiești (Romanian champions) Beyond Europe: Isuzu Giga Cats (Japanese league and cup winners), Al Jalaa (Syrian Cup winners), Ararat (Iran), and championship-winning teams in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela Julius captained the Nigerian National Team for 10 years. After returning home in 1997, he led Nigeria to its first-ever Basketball World Cup qualification and repeated the feat in 2005. He was later appointed head coach of the Nigerian National Team.
Nikoloz Tsintsadze
Nikoloz Tsintsadze has more than 10 years of coaching experience across all levels of the game. For seven years he was actively involved with Georgia’s youth national teams, serving as head coach of the U16 and U18 squads. As U16 head coach, he achieved a historic result for Georgia, leading the team to promotion to the elite Division A and keeping its place there the following year. Since 2024, he has served as assistant coach of the Georgian Senior National Team.
