As Patriots Basketball Club made their way to the quarterfinals of the Basketball Africa League, gigantic centre Prince Chinenye Ibeh is one of the players that have been influential towards the achievement. With his physique and athleticism, he has contributed 23 points, made 5 assists and 21 rebounds in the 63 minutes and 57 seconds that he has played for Patriots in the BAL tournament so far. The 26-year-old was born in the UK and brought up in the US, but has his origins in Nigeria. Recently, he obtained Rwandan citizenship and was even able to feature for the national basketball team in the last window of the Afrobasket qualifiers that unfolded in February. Ibeh has played basketball in different countries including the USA where he played for the University of Texas, before continuing to Japan, the Philippines, Germany, and in England with the Plymouth Raiders. In a recent interview with Times Sport, he highlighted how he got to become a Rwandan citizen. “They (Rwanda) were looking for another nationalized player, and at the time, I was trying to decide what country I was going to play for, because I had a few options. But, when I talked with them it sounded like I had a chance to be part of something growing and a chance to do something big, and to be a big piece of it. That’s why I got more interested in that, and I am glad that I made the decision,” he said. He noted that it has been a positive experience, saying Rwandans are like-minded people and growing in many different areas. On an interesting note, Ibeh said during his interview with the BAL that he didn’t play basketball until he was fifteen, “Growing up I played American football and I ran track and field,” he said. “From my first year to sophomore year, I had a big growth spurt from 6’3” to 6’ 8 and that was the time when I started playing basketball, and I started taking it seriously at that point.” Experience of Playing for Patriots Ibeh says he is enjoying the experience of playing for the patriots in a competition regarded as the best on the continent in Basketball. “Moving forward, the most important part of it, is just being able to display and show African talent in African basketball and be part of that is a great thing,” he said. “There are very talented players here in the BAL, some similar to myself with a lot of athleticism and size. The talent and skill level will get better and better every year, and this is going to continue to happen and, eventually, it’s going to be a top notch competition in the world,” he added. He says that his personal target for the team would be to win the BAL. “I am not really a person who believes in consolation. I know there are probably a lot of people who would just be proud for us to take it as far as we can, but for me, I would like us to win the [BAL] championship,” he said.
