Four-time champions Patriots basketball club have edged closer to securing the signature of American professional basketball player Chris Crawford. Times Sport understands that the club and player are close to agreeing personal terms before the shooting guard signs a contract to feature for them in the upcoming playoffs. A reliable source from the club’s top management confirmed that the player is soon joining them: “We are in advanced talks with him. Hopefully in a week’s time everything will be finalised for him to join officially,” the source revealed. The 29-year-old is vastly experienced, having played in his native USA and other countries. On the African continent, he signed with Tunisian giants US Monastir in 2020 but never played for them. Later, he joined Club African in the same country. He has also played for Ezzahra Sports in Tunisia. His latest stint was with Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club (SLAC), for which he featured at the 2022 season of the BAL. Crawford is one of the players that performed well for SLAC at the BAL, where, for instance, he scored 30 points in a 70–85 win against Dakar Universite Club Basketball (DUC). He helped SLAC advance to the playoffs after leading the team in both points and assists with 21.4 points and 4.8 assists per game. Patriots are currently making an effort to reinforce their ranks before the playoffs where they will rub shoulders with teams like REG, APR, and Tigers. The highly anticipated men’s basketball play-off games will start August 26 at Aiper-Nyandungu and Kepler in a best of three semi-final series. After the semi-finals, winners will progress to a best-of-five finals at the BK Arena. REG were last season’s champions, a feat that qualified them to represent the country at the 2022 edition of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) earlier this year.
