TOP CLUBS in the National Basketball league have beefed up their rosters as they rally to challenge for the 2020/21 league title. One of the main rewards for winning the local league is that the Champion gets to participate in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) qualifiers, and stands a chance of taking part in the final tournament which brings together some of the finest clubs on the continent. This year’s league competition will be one to watch, as clubs have introduced new players including those that have been imported from outside of Africa. In this article, Times Sport looks at the new recruits of the top 5 clubs in the league. REG Basketball Club Dogget Quinton Meddrick from USA REG has been busy in the transfer market, and one of their new recruits is Quinton Doggett, an experienced player that has featured in the Dominican Republic and in Saudi Arabia leagues. The 30-year-old American is a very well-traveled man and has also played in El Salvador, Egypt, Vietnam, Iraq, Bahrain, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Uruguay, Ukraine, Peru, Portugal, and Denmark. Post Keanau Dennis Canadian basketball player Keanau has also joined REG. He has formerly featured for Al Hala of the Bahraini Premier League, and played college basketball for Southwestern Illinois and Missouri. The 28-year-old also played for Peja in the Kosovo Basketball Super league, in addition to having had a stint in Qatar. Adonis Filer Filer is not new in Rwandan basketball. The Point guard got known in the Rwandan basketball circle, especially in 2020 when he played for the Patriots, putting up a good display after which he was summoned to the National Basketball team for the second round of the Afrobasket qualifiers. APR Basketball Club Pitchou Kambuy Manga As for APR, Manga, a 32-year-old Congolese player is one of those that have been added to the team. He is a seasoned entity who has previously played for ASB Mazembe, in addition to featuring for the DRC National Team. Axel Mpoyo APR have also added US-based Rwandan Power-forward Axel Mpoyo, who was instrumental as the national team registered their first win in the Afrobasket qualifiers in Tunisia in February this year. Honoré Niyongira Niyongira is another player that APR has added. He has previously played for Acadia University Axemen in Canada. Emile Gallois Kazeneza Kazeneza is not new in Rwandan basketball. The 21-year-old formerly played for local club Espoir 2018. He has joined APR for one year. IPRC Kigali Basketball Club: Tobechkwu Akafor Philippe IPRC Kigali have added 29-year-old Nigerian Akafor. He played in Europe, specifically in Spain. In 2018 he went undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft, making him a free agent. United Generation Basketball (UGB) Elias Ngoga The UGB team has added young player Elias Ngoga this season from the USA. He was also in the past featured for the national under-16 and under-18 teams. Patriots Basketball Club Defending champions, the Patriots this year added two players including Sano Gasana from the USA and Jean-Paul Ndoli from IPRC-Kigali. But still, the possibility of having US-based shooting guard Kenny Gasana for Playoffs cannot be ruled out, since it has ever happened before. With all these investments made by the top teams, fingers are crossed to see who will come out on the top of the league that will be concluded around September this year.
