Conference Opener Will Feature Egypt’s Al Ahly Making BAL Debut Against Mozambique’s CFV - Beira at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 26 at 12 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CAT; Tickets for Nile Conference Games on Sale Now at www.BAL.NBA.com
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) today announced the rosters of the six teams that will compete in the league’s Nile Conference group phase from April 26 - May 6 at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo, Egypt.
The six teams – Al Ahly (Egypt), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), City Oilers (Uganda), Club Atlético Petróleos de Luanda (Petro de Luanda; Angola), Clube Ferroviário da Beira (CFV - Beira; Mozambique) and Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (S.L.A.C; Guinea) – collectively feature 78 players from 15 countries across Africa, Oceania, and the U.S., including two former NBA players, nine players with NBA G League experience, 20 former NCAA Division I players, six NBA Academy Africa prospects, and 15 former Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa campers. Al Ahly and the City Oilers will be making their BAL debut, while the Cape Town Tigers, CFV - Beira and S.L.A.C are returning for the second consecutive season. 2022 runner-up Petro de Luanda has participated in all three BAL seasons.
In the conference opener, Al Ahly will take on CFV - Beira at 12 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CAT on Canal+, ESPN, NBA TV, Visionary TV, Voice of America (VOA) and select free-to-air channels across the continent. The game will also livestream on the NBA App. Fans can view the complete Nile Conference game schedule and purchase tickets.
The 12 BAL teams have once again been divided into two conferences – the Sahara Conference and the Nile Conference. Each conference plays a 15-game group phase during which each team plays the five other teams in its conference once. The top four teams from the Nile Conference group phase will join Abidjan Basket Club (ABC Fighters; Côte d’Ivoire), AS Douanes (Senegal), Rwanda Energy Group (REG; Rwanda) and Stade Malien (Mali) in the BAL Playoffs, which will feature a single-elimination tournament and Finals at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda in May.
Below please find select BAL Nile Conference player and coach storylines:
Josh Hall (Cape Town Tigers) played 21 games for the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2020-21 NBA season.
Michael Gbinije (Cape Town Tigers) was the No. 49 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons and played in nine games for the Pistons during the 2016-2017 season. He won the 2015 FIBA AfroBasket Championship as a member of the Nigeria Men’s National Team.
Ater Majok (Petro de Luanda) was the No. 58 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Majok, who won the 2022 BAL Finals and Dikembe Mutombo Defensive Player of the Year Award as a member of US Monastir, is competing in his third BAL season.
In addition to signing Majok, Petro de Luanda signed 2022 BAL champion Souleymane Diabate. Majok and Diabate join 2022 All-BAL First Team member Carlos Morais and 2022 All-BAL Defensive Team members Childe Dundão and Abou Gakou. A number of Petro de Luanda players previously represented their respective national teams in FIBA Basketball World Cup tournaments, including Diabate (Côte d’Ivoire; 2010 and 2019) and Dundão (Angola; 2017 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup).
Petro de Luanda shooting guard Carlos Morais is one of the most accomplished players in the history of Angolan basketball. He is an eight-time Angolan League champion, a three-time Angolan Cup winner, and represented Angola in three FIBA Basketball World Cups (2006, 2010, 2019) and at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was also named Most Valuable Player of the 2012 FIBA Africa Champions Cup. Morais played in three preseason games with the Toronto Raptors in 2013.
Former New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and NBA G League Ignite assistant coach Rasheed Hazzard will serve as head coach of the Cape Town Tigers. Hazzard was also an assistant coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers when they won the 2021-22 G League Championship. He will coach alongside South Africa’s Flosh Ngwenya, who led the team during the Road to the BAL qualifiers last November.
Tigers guard Zaire Wade most recently played for the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League. Zaire is the son of three-time NBA champion and 2023 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Dwyane Wade.
Al Ahly forward Anunwa “Nuni” Omot made history with the South Sudan National Team when the team qualified for the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time earlier this year. He was South Sudan’s leading scorer throughout their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Six Al Ahly players were part of the Egypt National Team that qualified for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. In addition, Al Ahly guard Amr Gendy represented Egypt in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and guard Corey Webster represented his native New Zealand in two FIBA Basketball World Cups (2014 and 2019).
NBA Academy Africa prospect Dramane Camara, who is playing for Al Ahly as part of the BAL Elevate program, recently committed to DePaul University and is set to join the Blue Demons ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Below are the nine former NBA G League players competing in the Nile Conference group phase
Team
Player
Country
Last G League Team
Al Ahly
Anunwa Omot
South Sudan
Lakeland Magic
CFV - Beira
Najeal Young
U.S.
Santa Cruz Warriors
Cape Town Tigers
Josh Hall
U.S.
Grand Rapids Gold
Cape Town Tigers
Michael Gbinije
U.S. / Nigeria
Oklahoma City Blue
Cape Town Tigers
Zaire Wade
U.S.
Salt Lake City Stars
Petro de Luanda
Ater Majok
South Sudan
South Bay Lakers
S.L.A.C
Uchenna Iroegbu
U.S. / Nigeria
Stockton Kings
S.L.A.C
Sedrick Barefield
U.S.
Oklahoma City Blue
S.L.A.C
Dane Miller Jr.
U.S.
Oklahoma City Blue
Below are the 20 former NCAA Division I players competing in the Nile Conference group phase:
Team
Player
Country
Last NCAA College/University
Al Ahly
Anunwa Omot
South Sudan
Baylor University
Al Ahly
Omar Araby
Egypt
University of Southern California
Al Ahly
Michael Thompson
U.S.
Northwestern University
City Oilers
James Edward Justice Jr.
U.S.
University of Tennessee
City Oilers
Falando Cortez Jones
U.S.
Mississippi Valley State University
City Oilers
Germaine Vashon Roebuck Jr.
U.S.
Judson University
City Oilers
Ngor William Barnaba
South Sudan
Talladega College
CFV - Beira
Makhtar Gueye
Senegal
University of Alabama, Birmingham
CFV - Beira
William Perry
U.S.
Lenoir-Ryhne University
CFV - Beira
Bourama Sidibe
Mali
Syracuse University
CFV - Beira
Najeal Young
U.S.
University of Illinois
Cape Town Tigers
Evans Ganapamo
Central African Republic
Prairie View A&M
Cape Town Tigers
Samekelo Cele
South Africa
University of Science and Arts, Oklahoma
Cape Town Tigers
Michael Gbinije
U.S. / Nigeria
Duke University and Syracuse University
Cape Town Tigers
Pieter Prinsloo
South Africa
Marist College
Cape Town Tigers
Dylan Whitbread
South Africa
Colgate University
Petro de Luanda
Ater Majok
South Sudan
University of Connecticut
Petro de Luanda
Damian Hollis
U.S.
George Washington University
S.L.A.C
Sedric Barefield
U.S.
University of Utah
S.L.A.C
Uchenna Iroegbu
U.S. / Nigeria
Stony Brook University
Below are the six NBA Academy Africa prospects competing in the Nile Conference group phase:
Team
Player
Hometown/Country
Al Ahly
Dramane Sayon Camara
Bamako, Mali
Cape Town Tigers
Parby Kabamba Musongela
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
City Oilers
Segun Ezekiel Obe
Ikeja, Nigeria
CFV - Beira
Paul Kabenga Mbiya
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Petro de Luanda
Seifeldin Hendaway
Cairo, Egypt
S.L.A.C
Mabilmawut Kon Mabil
Juba City, South Sudan
Below are the 15 former BWB Africa campers competing in the Nile Conference group phase:
Team
Player
Country
BWB Camp(s)
Al Ahly
Amro Sherif Mohamed Abdelhalim
Egypt
BWB Africa 2009
Al Ahly
Omar Oraby
Egypt
BWB Africa 2008
City Oilers
Baale Fayed
Uganda
BWB Africa 2017
City Oilers
Jimmy Enabu
Uganda
BWB Africa 2007
CFV - Beira
Luis Rafael de Barros
Mozambique
BWB Africa 2004
CFV - Beira
Makhtar Gueye
Senegal
BWB Global 2015
CFV - Beira
Paul Mbiya
DRC
BWB Africa 2022 / BWB Global 2023
Cape Town Tigers
Liam Reid
South Africa
BWB Africa 2014
Cape Town Tigers
Dylan Whitbread
South Africa
BWB Africa 2011
Cape Town Tigers
Lebesa Selepe
South Africa
BWB Africa 2008
Cape Town Tigers
Parby Musongela
DRC
BWB Africa 2022 / BWB Global 2023
Petro de Luanda
Gerson Domingos
Angola
BWB Africa 2013
Petro de Luanda
Glofate Buiamba
Angola
BWB Africa 2016
Petro de Luanda
Seifeldin Hendaway
Egypt
BWB Africa 2022 / BWB Global 2023
S.L.A.C
Mabilmawut Mabil
South Sudan
BWB Africa 2022
The 2023 BAL season is reaching fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages through free-to-air and paid TV broadcast partnerships with the African Union of Broadcasting, American Forces Network (AFN), Canal+, ESPN (sub-Saharan Africa), NBA TV, Tencent, TV5 Monde, Visionary TV and VOA, and livestreaming on the NBA App.
*Rosters are subject to change
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Copyright: Fresh Angle International (www.freshangleng.com)
ISSN 2354 - 4104
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