Fifty girls were waiting for Nicky Anosike when she arrived in Nigeria in December.

Half of them were in dresses because they didn't own any athletic gear. Many of them didn't have sneakers and wore slippers or sandals instead.

There was no basketball court for them to use in Nnewi, Anambra, where Anosike's husband and father are from. Anosike could only find one basketball in their entire village – it was a men's size and in terrible shape.

But the former Lady Vols star was determined to teach the girls the sport of basketball and share the mission of Girls Inc. with them during her family's annual trip to Nigeria.

"Whatever you have to overcome, overcome it," Anosike told herself, "because these girls need you."

How Nicky Anosike found connection to Nigeria

Anosike hadn't been back to Nigeria for 30 years before she married her husband, Chima, in 2020.

It wasn't that she didn't want to return – she just didn't know how. She didn't know where to go or if she would be welcomed. Anosike's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Nigeria and raised their children in Brooklyn, New York.

"There was a huge disconnect for me between who I was and what I thought Nigeria to be," said Anosike, who played for Tennessee from 2004-08.

When Anosike married Chima, she found a support system in his family. They have spent a month in Nigeria each year since getting married. With each trip, Anosike finds more of herself. She feels more connected to Nigeria. She understands her parents and husband more.

"Now, I have something to pour into the girls in Nigeria, because I know who I am as a Nigerian now," Anosike said. "So I feel like everything has come full circle."

There's sometimes an assumption that children of immigrants don't want to go back to their country of origin, Anosike said, but for her it was "really, really important" to do something in Nigeria. Because of her husband and Girls Inc., she was finally able to make it happen.

"Now I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be, for the first time since I retired in 2012," Anosike said. "I really, genuinely feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and I found something that I'm just as passionate about, if not more than I was about basketball."

Why Nicky Anosike wanted to bring Girls Inc. to Nigeria

Anosike always says basketball saved her life.

She and her siblings were raised in Nigerian values and culture growing up in the U.S. There wasn't anything wrong with only eating Nigerian food or only watching Nigerian movies. Anosike just never felt like she fit in.

Except on the basketball court. It was the only place she felt normal, and she "could actually be Nicky for those 40 minutes."

"It was the only place I was able to express myself, and that's where that passion came from," Anosike said. "Basketball was not just a sport for me. It was my life."

The girls in Nnewi were a bit apprehensive at first. They were used to boys getting everything without being able to participate, and they were surprised Anosike was putting on something just for them.

The impact basketball had on the girls was clear. Their faces lit up playing, and their happiness and confidence was palpable. They felt important, like they could be more than just someone cooking for the family or running errands for their mothers.

"Those girls really, really needed that ... the mission of Girls Inc. to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold, needs to be extended (globally)," Anosike said. "Because it is so needed in places where they’re still trying to break down barriers that we broke down 50 years ago."

Anosike has only been the Girls Inc. athletic director since August. But she has already revived their athletic program and now taken it across the ocean.

She's already trying to figure out how to get athletic gear and school supplies to Nigeria so they can run and the whole Girls Inc. program, education included. Her biggest challenge now is finding people to help her.

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"How I'm going to do that, I don't know. But I haven't really known how I was going to do any of this, and it's happened," Anosike said. "So I'm just kind of taking a leap of faith, and I believe the right people will step into whatever role they're supposed to take in this and we will be able to get it done."

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Nicky Anosike returned to Nigeria to teach girls about basketball