The name Adonis Jovon Filer needs no introduction to anyone who has closely been following Rwandan basketball during the past two to three seasons. The American point guard made no small mark in the game. He’s a star that every top team in the country would wish to have in the ranks and no wonder Rwanda Energy Group (REG) are again chasing his signature to win him back ahead of the 2023 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season. His scoring rate and dictation of play are among top qualities that define the player who was a key figure in Rwanda Energy Group (REG)’s triumphs during the past two seasons during which the club won two consecutive league titles (2021 and 2022), and back-to-back qualification to the prestigious BAL. His quick impact to the Rwandan basketball league undoubtedly shows how far the 29-year-old has established himself a force to reckon with. The journey Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Adonis started playing basketball at a tender age, picking from his father who played in college. “I started playing basketball mainly because of my dad and my older brother. I also had older cousins with whom we played a bunch of different sports. We started off playing many sports - basketball, baseball, American football, track, things like that,” he narrates. At 16, while attending Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, he decided to concentrate more on basketball. “I was put into a position where I had to choose between the sports I was going to play, and I made the decision that it was going to be basketball. That is when I just said ‘I am only going to focus on basketball,” he recalls. Starting out, one of the hard things he had to do was to adjust and try to become a better player, then a baller. “It was tough because I had been playing many other games,” he says. So, I wasn't the best player on the basketball team, not the most skilled. I just kind of had a lot of energy and I played a lot of defense,” he adds. He later switched to the Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, Indiana. That’s where he realized that he was made to play the point guard role, because of his love of being a leader. “I like to lead my teammates and I love to win. I have no agenda when I am playing the game of basketball. I believe that, as a point guard, you can't be selfish, you can't think about yourself. It's always team first,” he explains. Filer played for a number of colleges like Clemson Tigers and Florida Atlantic before he embarked on a professional journey that saw him feature for clubs like Apollon Limassol in Cyprus and Beroe of the Bulgarian National Basketball League. Kigali, Adonis’ second home In 2020, his connection with Rwanda started as local giants Patriots Basketball Club came seeking for his services. “My story in Rwanda began with my agent calling me about a job in February 2020. He told me there is a new Basketball Africa League starting, and said ‘would you like to play in it?’ I said ‘I am already,’” he narrates. He did not know much about African basketball. His agent told him there was interest for him from FAP, a Cameroonian team and Patriots from Rwanda, and so, he had to choose. “I have friends from Cameroon. So I called one of them, and I asked him ‘where, between Kigali and Yaoundé, do you think I would be happier?’ And, before I even finished the question, he said Kigali.” That is how he decided to come to Kigali. That year, he featured a bit for the Patriots before Covid-19 hit and the season was suspended. The same year, he was, for the first time, summoned to play for Rwanda during the second round of the Afrobasket qualifiers. The following season he inked a deal with REG. He enjoyed the game with the team and he won big with them. During his time in Rwanda, Adonis told Weekend Sport that his best moment so far was winning the 2022 league with REG after a tough 5-game final series against the Patriots. Adonis is now a free agent but Weekend Sport understands that REG are in advanced negotiations with him in an attempt to sign him before the BAL 2023 season kicks off in March.
