Henry Mwinuka, the interim coach of the national basketball team, has added Britain-based center Prince Chinenye to his roster ahead of the second window of Afrobasket qualifiers due next week in Tunisia. The second round of the 2021 African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) qualifiers will be played from February 17 through 19 in Monastir, Tunisia. Chinenye, 26, will link up with 15 other players, who, according to officials of the Rwanda basketball federation, are scheduled to leave the country Friday, February 12, in the morning hours. Speaking to this publication on Thursday, a reliable source – that preferred to be unnamed – revealed that Chinenye will join the team in Tunisia on Sunday, February 14, just three days before Rwanda’s opening game against Mali. He plays for Plymouth Raiders in the British Basketball League and was not able to join the team earlier in camp, in Kigali, due to club commitments. Chinenye holds different basketball honors including the Most Improved Player for his team in the 2012-13 season. He played all 34 games and led the squad in field goal percentage, second in blocked shots (40) and ninth in the Big 12 Conference in blocks per game. He also recorded three or more blocks in six games, tied for the team lead. Tactician Mwinuka will be looking to the sensational center to boost his team’s performance following a dismal showing during the first round qualifiers last November, in Kigali, where the hosts lost all their three games against Mali, Nigeria and South Sudan. Full squad: Hubert Kabare Bugingo, Sano Gasana, Ntare Habimana, Steven Hagumintwari, Kenneth Gasana, Ibeh Prince Chibenye, Kami Kabange, Elie Kaje, Axel Mpoyo, Dieudonne Ndizeye, Jean-Paul Ndoli, Pascal Niyonkuru, Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza, Marius Ntwari, Sedar Sagamba and Olivier Shyaka Technical team: Henry Mwinuka (head coach), Aime Karim Nkusi (assistant coach), Ernest Ntaganda (team manager) and technical director Moise Mutokambali.
