American basketball coach Sam Vincent has been named APR Basketball Club assistant coach during the Basketball Africa League (BAL) playoffs, set for June 6-14 in Pretoria, South Africa. Vincent, who won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 1986, was on the touchline coaching South Africa’s Made By Ball (MBB) during the Nile Conference held in Kigali from May 17-25. His side, however, failed to qualify for the playoffs, after finishing in third place in the conference with a 2-4 record. Libya’s Al Ahli SC and APR of Rwanda qualified from the conference. Despite MBB’s early exit, Vincent’s team pulled off a memorable 94-88 win over APR before their home crowd. Vincent has since become available and was invited by countryman James Maye to join his backroom as assistant coach during the playoffs. Maye and Vincent developed mutual respect and shared a common vision for using basketball to support youth development across Africa. Vincent first coached in South Africa in 1999 and later led their national team to a joint-best ninth-place finish at the 2003 African Championships, posting a 3-3 record.
