Ex-UGA coach Felton declines job in Nigeria

Athens — Former Georgia basketball coach Dennis Felton said he has reluctantly declined an offer to coach Nigeria’s national team in this summer’s African Basketball Championship.

“As excited as I was about it, and as much an honor as it was, I just decided now is not a good time,” Felton said.

Fired by Georgia in January, Felton said he is “certainly interested in continuing coaching at some level.” He said he was concerned the Nigeria job would get in the way of pursuing more permanent opportunities. He said he’ll help various NBA teams with summer activities and mini-camps.

“I’m very excited about all the possibilities, looking forward to the next thing that I do,” Felton said.

He recently visited Nigeria and came home enthusiastic about that nation’s basketball talent.

“Nigeria probably enjoys the most [basketball] talent of any country in Africa, yet has never been able to win the African [championship],” Felton said. “They have a brand new commitment to try to find a way to lift the level of their national team, so they wanted me to coach the team with an eye on this summer’s African Championship [in Libya] and next summer’s World Championships and ultimately the 2012 Olympics in London.

“If I were more settled with my permanent employment,” Felton said, “I think I would have been all over it.”

As he has done since January, Felton declined to discuss his firing at Georgia. He said he has nothing to add to a prepared statement he issued at the time.