Dieudonné Ndizeye was instrumental last week as Patriots basketball club tormented Group D rivals to reach the second and final round of qualifiers for the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL), due next year. Out of four games that his team played, which they dominated with a perfect 4:0 win ratio, Ndizeye finished as his team’s second leading scorer and was once as a game-high scorer. And, such was his spectacular performance throughout the 2018/2019 BK Basketball National League and other local competitions. The 24-year old did not only average the most points per game in the playoffs finals, but he was also fourth on the season’s top-scorers chart with 344 points, only behind APR star Pascal Niyonkuru (477), Rwanda Energy Group forward Bell Beleck (384) and former Espoir wonder-kid Armel Sangwe who posted 376 points. The latter has since joined APR. Dieudonné Ndizeye, 24, was pivotal as Patriots dominated Group D to reach the final round of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Qualifiers last week. FIBA Since his 2017 move to Patriots – three-time champions – from IPRC Kigali as a lightly recruited with raw skill set player, Ndizeye has rapidly flourished and exploded into one of the most sought-after players in local basketball. In this issue, Saturday Sport’s Damas Sikubwabo gives us a peek into the life of the Patriots star and his illustrious rise to the top of the game in just two years. Born and raised in Nyanza District, Southern Province, Ndizeye did not discover the basketball talent in him – or at least give it attention – until the age of 15 when he switched school from Saint Peter Igihozo in his home town to Saint Joseph Kabgayi in Muhanga District. Ndizeye made his debut international in 2017 and has since locked his place as a regular member of the national team. File. At the time, then in his second year of secondary school, Ndizeye was lured into the school’s O’Level team, largely due to his height. It took him just a few months of learning and intensive training before breaking into the starting team. By the time he left the school after two years, Ndizeye was the school’s best player in the youth team. He completed his high school studies at IPRC-Kigali in public works before enrolling to the same institution for university where he currently is in his final year pursuing a degree in civil engineering. The third child from a family of six, two girls and four boys, Ndizeye says that sharing the locker room with players he considered as his idols in his early career ‘feels surreal’ but it also inspired him to work harder and learn faster than it would have taken him. “Being a teammate to Lionnel Hakizimana and Aristide Mugabe feels surreal. These are players I regarded as my role models when I started playing basketball. I have a lot of respect for them.” Mugabe is Patriots skipper and former captain of the national team, while Hakizimana – despite his recent slump in form – is regarded as one of the best shooting guards the country has produced in the last ten years. Ndizeye, who stands at 2.03m, made his international debut in 2017. Club career After four years in the national inter-schools championships, Ndizeye graduated from youth basketball to join IPRC-Kigali in the topflight league in 2015, and he would feature for the Kicukiro-based side for three seasons before joining Patriots at the end of the 2016/17 campaign. During his three years with IPRC-Kigali, he helped the team to finish inside top four twice to make the playoffs games, first finishing fourth in 2016 before improving by one spot the following year. Since his move to Patriots in November 2017, the 24-year old has won several titles including two back-to-back championships – both at the expense of rivals Rwanda Energy Group (REG). “I joined Patriots to look for new challenges, not greener pastures as many may think,” Ndizeye told this publication in an interview. “I loved IPRC and the team spirit that we exhibited, but challenges there were limited, and so were the opportunities.” Dieudonné Ndizeye at our offices this month./ Craish Bahizi. Although there was no award for it, Ndizeye was widely seen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of this year’s playoff games after powering his side from a 3-1 deficit in the finals to beat REG in epic Game 7 at Kigali Arena last month. The historic comeback automatically qualified Patriots as the country’s representatives in the BAL qualifiers, and the Rwandan champions did not disappoint in Group D as they tormented their opponents in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to advance to the final round with a clean 4:0 win ratio. “Winning in Tanzania was rather a team effort, individual brilliance did not count much. Also, the fact that we represented the country contributed a lot. We owed our fans and all Rwandans a good representation in the competition,” said Ndizeye. He added, “I have a lot to improve as a player, and we have a long way to go as a team, but, we are Patriots. We are fighters. We have now conquered the region, and the challenge continues.” Patriots finished top of Group D after beating Dynamo (Burundi), Hawassa (Ethiopia), JKT (Tanzania) and Ugandan champions City Oilers, respectively. City Oilers finished second, while JKT were the second runners-up. National duties Ndizeye made his international debut in 2017 at the 29th African Basketball Championships (Afrobasket) in Tunisia, and has since played about twenty games with the national team. He was part of the team that played this year’s FIBA Africa Zone V Nations Championships in Uganda, as well as two rounds of the 2019 Basketball World Cup qualifiers in Mali and Nigeria. Dream to go Pro “Playing professional basketball would be a great achievement, and I am open to opportunities. But, right now I am focused on improving my game and helping Patriots to more success.” editor@newtimesrwanda.com
