James Owusu and Jahlil at DGN office
A 10-year-old basketball player, Jahlil Kwadwo Osei Owusu, also a Nike youth ambassador, is in town to support basketball in Ghana.
The African-American with Ghanaian parentage has been in town with his father, James Owusu, also a basketball player, to give back to the sport in which he (James) excelled whilst in school before travelling overseas.
So far, the national AAU (10 U) champion has visited Tudu in Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast with his ‘Jah Swish Homecoming’ invitational campaign.
And indications are that the campaign is aimed at supporting community basketball with basketball T-shirts, balls, sneakers and many others.
Ahead of the visit, which is Jahlil’s second, he posted on Facebook, “A dream of mine is to go to Ghana and help make a difference and motivate the youth to play basketball early.”
Speaking exclusively to DGN SPORTS, James said, “We are here for a good cause? to give back to basketball, having lived here for some time, I know the challenges confronting the sport.”
And responding to how Jahlil struck the Nike Inc. deal, he revealed that “we had a call from Nike for a commercial, that’s how it started, most of the kids look up to him. We have a relationship with Nike now. My idea, but we pushed it to Nike and they came on board to support.”
He added, “It is our first time regarding this campaign, but it would be annualised. We will stay longer on our next visit; we will move to schools? governmental and private to help promote the sport.”
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum