The Rwanda Basketball Federation (Ferwaba) will engage Spain-based forward Jean-Victor Mukama about the possibility of playing for the national basketball team in the upcoming qualifiers of the FIBA World Cup 2023, Times Sport has learned. The 27-year-old had been summoned in 2020 to take part in the qualifiers of the African Basketball Championships (Afrobasket) 2021 tournament, but he did not make it, arguably due to the situation he was in, switching clubs from local side Patriots to Dutch Basketball League side Leeuwarden. Mukama can be deployed as a small or power forward, and if all goes well, he will be a key addition to the national team due to his admirable abilities for scoring, among other skills. He was a vital part of the Patriots team during their qualification journey for the Basketball African League (BAL) in 2020, and he can be remembered specifically in the game against Madagascar’s GNBC where he scored a game-high 18 points and made 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. According to Richard Nyirishema, Ferwabas Second Vice President, Mukama has always been interested in playing for the country, but there have been some factors that hinder him from turning up, which are specifically related to his schedule at club level. He is still interested. So, we will look at his availability in the next window - in February. We will do this together with the coach, depending on the squad he will be having. If he (Mukama) will is available, he will be part of the pre-selection squad, Nyirishema said.
