The Kwara Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Saheed Popoola, on Thursday confirmed the stable condition of the three Kwara Falcons basketball players involved in an auto accident on Feb. 27.

Popoola, in Ilorin, said that the players, currently receiving treatment at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) were responding to treatment.

The four of the newly signed players of the state-owned basketball team were involved in the auto accident at Ote, in Asa Local Government Area of the state.

They were on their way from Lagos to join other members of the team to prepare for the new season when the accident which left one of them dead occurred.

He disclosed that one of them, simply called Emeka, who was said to be in a coma after the accident, was now in a stable condition.

The other two are Adeola Kanbi and Kelvin Okoro, while the dead was Joseph Aduku, 33, died

The Kwara Falcons had just got promoted to the DStv Men's Basketball Premier League after its triumph at Savannah Conference Final Four play-off in Gombe.

The commissioner said that the state government had taken responsibility of the medical bills of the injured players.

He later consoled with the players at their training ground at the Indoor Sports Hall of Kwara Stadium, where he told them to remain strong ahead of the new season.

Falcons Technical Adviser, Steve Onishola, commended the state government for its timely intervention during the accident.

Onishola said the team was ready to excel and give the government something to smile about at the end of the season.

The technical adviser, however, appealed to the government to redeem its promise of cash and a Coaster bus to the team to ease their transportation challenges.

Meanwhile, Kwara Falcons had officially pleaded with the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) to postpone its first two games of the season but had yet to be granted that.

The 2013/2014 DStv Men's Basketball League will dunk off on March 7, with Kwara Falcons playing their first match away against Union Bank of Lagos. (NAN)/PDE