PATRIOTS Basketball Club appointed Kenyan Carey Francis Odhiambo as their new head coach last week, bringing to an end the four-year tenure of Henry Mwinuka who was in the job since December 2015. According to sources, Mwinuka, who is now head coach at Rwanda Energy Group (REG), is the highest-paid manager in local basketball at a reported monthly salary of $3000, about Rwf2.8million. Popularly known as ‘T-nine’, Odhiambo guided his Patriots side to a successful title defence in the Legacy Basketball Tournament over the weekend after beating REG – and his predecessor Mwinuka – in the final. BREAKING: @PatriotsBBC have retained the Legacy Tournament title after beating rivals @regbbcofficial 68-59 in the final. #LegacyTournament2019 pic.twitter.com/IX0EqVEVfI — The New Times (Sports) (@TimesSportRW) November 9, 2019 Patriots clinically fought back in the final quarter to win the game 68-59 after trailing REG in the first three quarters. Speaking to Times Sport in an exclusive interview, Odhiambo said he was relishing the opportunity to work with the ‘biggest franchise’ in Rwandan basketball, and looked forward to achieving more success with the club. “Patriots are a team that has registered a lot of successes in the last five years, I feel delighted and challenged to be associated with the club,” he said. “I am motivated to keep the team’s winning mentality and, together, we achieve more in the coming years.” The 50-year old was part of Patriots’ technical bench during the first round of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) Qualifiers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, last month and he has emphasized that, “I now understand the team’s philosophy and ambitions. And, I am thrilled to uphold and contribute to them.” Odhiambo will be in charge of the team, assisted by Liz Mills, during the second and final round of BAL qualifiers in Kigali next month. The Rwandan champions, if they are to secure ticket to the continental showpiece, they will have to finish among the top three out of eight teams in Group H. Besides Patriots, the group also comprises Ugandan giants City Oilers, Kenyan champions KPA, Ferroviario de Maputo from Mozambique, GNBC (Madagascar) and UNZA Pacers (Zambia), JKT (Tanzania) and South Sudan’s Cobra. The week-long qualification tournament is due December 17-22 at Amahoro Indoor Stadium and the state-of-the-art Kigali Arena. Playing career Odhiambo had a brief playing career as he only played for five years in the Kenyan top tier, before embarking on his coaching career at the age of 25. He spent his professional playing career with Cooperative Bank, the same club where he started his coaching journey twenty-five years ago. Coaching journey Odhiambo, among many achievements, won four league titles with Co-op Bank, and also previously served as assistant coach of the Kenyan national team. He also coached, at different stints, Equity Bank men and women’s teams. Currently, Odhiambo is the Secretary-General of the Kenya Basketball Coaches Commission. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
