A Vermont native who grew up on a farm in Cabot is participating in the summer Olympics as head coach of the Nigerian men’s basketball team.
Will Voight played soccer in college but went on to become a basketball coach in the NBA development league and of the Vermont Frost Heaves.
He said he had coached two players on the Nigerian team while he was coaching in the NBA development league. He told Vermont Public Radio that those players brought his name to the Nigerian Basketball Federation.
“I had worked camps in Nigeria about 10 years ago. 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,” he said. “But certainly, (the Nigerian Basketball Federation) rolled the dice with hiring a Vermont kid.”
