How does a Vermont-born-and-raised kid who grew up on a farm in Cabot and eventually played college soccer in California become the head basketball coach for the Nigerian men's Olympic team?
"I coached two players on the team while I was coaching in the NBA development league," said Will Voigt. Those players brought his name to the Nigerian Basketball Federation.
"I had worked camps in Nigeria about 10 years ago," he said. "So I had spent a fair amount of time in Nigeria doing some basketball there, so there was a little bit of familiarity with the country and the culture. But certainly, [the Nigerian Basketball Federation] rolled the dice with hiring a Vermont kid."
Voigt comes from that small town of Cabot and from a family that's done some pretty big things. His mother, Ellen Bryant Voigt, is a former Vermont Poet Laureate and winner of a MaCarthur "Genius" Fellowship, and his father Fran founded the New England Culinary Institute. Voigt says his parents have been very encouraging all along.
There are no nationality requirements to for Olympic coaches, and Voigt has no families ties to Nigeria. Voigt played soccer in college, but has since been a basketball coach in the NBA development league and of the Vermont Frost Heaves.
The Nigerian team ranks low among the teams that will play in the Rio Olympics, but the team did win an important tournament in Africa to qualify. The top six African teams competed in the AfroBasket Tournament, and Nigeria was crowned the African Champion.
"It was certainly a challenge. Tunisia was the host country and had been the previous winner. Angola had won it 11 out of the last 13 years, so sort of the New York Yankees of African basketball, and Senegal is always a really competitive team," Voigt explained.
"There's never been an African team in history of the Olympics to make it out of group play. So right now that's our focus." - Will Voigt, Nigerian men's basketball coach
"We're a team without superstars. Our approach in everything we do is to be done collectively, both offensively and defensively we rely on each other. Any given night there could be a different leading scorer for us," Voigt said. "I think traditionally people think of these African teams as being really athletic but really fast-paced teams. I think we're really somewhere in the middle there. We really want to use our athleticism but we know that against the best teams in the world, you have to be able to execute in a half court as well."
While expectations for the team are low, Voigt says they're coming off Nigeria's first win of the African championship, so he thinks the group is capable of achieving something special.
"There's never been an African team in history of the Olympics to make it out of group play. So right now that's our focus. Because once you get it out of group play, it's almost like the NCAA tournament. It's single-game elimination. Anything can happen in that setting."