Two days before Elizabeth Balogun left for Serbia to play for the Nigerian women's basketball team in its 2020 Olympic qualifying tournament, she received a text from her father.
It was a video of the opening ceremony at the Olympics. That was the day Balogun understood the enormity of the summer games.
In fact, when she found out she was going to be playing for the Nigerian national team, Balogun didn’t want to go. She hesitated to leave her Louisville basketball teammates, whom she refers to as sisters, at a crucial part of the season. But coach Jeff Walz insisted.
“Walz told me it would mean a lot for my family and the national team to go,” Balogun said. “I still thank him to this day for letting me go and experience that level of basketball.”
When Walz found out Balogun was selected to play for the Nigerian national team, he didn’t hesitate to allow her to go. To him, and Balogun’s teammates, it was a no-brainer. She had to go qualify for the Olympics, despite what looked like a tough midseason stretch for the Cardinals.
"These players are wonderful young women. There’s not one of them that asked ‘Why did she go?’” Walz said. “Anyone of them if they had a chance to qualify for an Olympics, they all support each other. They would’ve kicked her in the butt and made her go.”
It all paid off as Nigeria qualified for the Olympics.
