Ivory Coast National Senior Men’s Basketball Team-The Elephants- commenced preparations for this year’s FIBA World Cup in China on Thursday, July 11 in Abidjan.
The team recently announced a 19 man preliminary roster for the upcoming competition which tips off on August 31 and ends September 15.
Ivory Coast will pick 12 men from the roster for the games after competing in friendly games against the likes of Spain and Italy. The team will have a training base in Orlando, Florida in the US.
In a chat with FIBA, veteran Point Guard Souleymane Diabate who was named in the roster sounded off on the preparations positively.
“It’s a great group of guys. I am really excited to meet the team again and get started… It’s a pretty good preparation plan because we hope to make our countrymen and women proud when we head to China” he said.
Ivory Coast is in Group A alongside host China, Poland and Venezuela andis one of five African countries at the tournament.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
