Armed with lightning pace, spectacular dribbling skills and lethal finish, Patriots basketball club captain and point-guard Ali ‘Kazingufu’ Kubwimana has already proved to be one of the fast rising basketball stars in Rwanda.

If you’ve seen him play, you know that it takes him three or four dribbles with a full stride from one side of the court to the next to finish with a lay-up or dunk.

The 22-year old maestro has demonstrated to be the scariest offensive player in the league and with only two seasons with Patriots that was formed in 2014.

Kubwimana, commonly known as Ali, has played an important part in guiding his side to three titles this season (League, Heroes Day, and Gisembe regional tournament titles).

The successful campaign led him to win two Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards namely; for the regular league season and Gisembe memorial regional tournament.

This week, Saturday Sport’s Geoffrey Asiimwe caught up with the highly-rated prospect and he exclusively shared his fairy tale journey.

Profile

Born on December 29, 1993 in Rubavu District, formerly Gisenyi, to Jean Kazingufu and Marie Uwamaria, Kubwimana is the first born in a family of five—two boys and three girls.

The 1.89m high athlete attended Stella Maris primary school and ESIG Secondary school for Ordinary level; all located in Rubavu District, before joining Groupe Scholaire APE Rugunga in Nyarugenge District, City of Kigali for Advanced level, taking History-Economics and Geography (HEG). 

Ali looks up to the famous American retired professional basketball player Kobe Bryant for inspiration and is a diehard fan of NBA 2016 champions, Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Ali is also a great fan of English Premier League side Chelsea FC.

He juggles studies and playing basketball. He is currently pursuing a bachelor degree in Business Management at University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB) formerly Rwanda Tourism University College (RTUC).

Early life

For many it’s quite surprising that the Rubavu-born star is actually a basketballer simply because this western district is famously known to be the hub of the country’s finest footballers. However, Ali says that even as a child, he never had any interest in playing football.

"Okay, I played football while I was a small boy but it was something I did for fun but I never liked it,” he said in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

His basketball journey began in 2008 while in primary five. His his school was in the same neighborhood as former league side Marine Basketball club (now defunct), which was by then one of the strongest sides in the country.

During co-curricular activities, the students would swam their training ground to see some the team’s stars playing and as time went on he felt inspired to try out the game too.

He narrates, "The team had some players from Burundi and DR Congo, who had spectacular skills and because of watching them every day, I started falling in love with the game, and gradually I and my friends would invade the court after their (Marines BBC) training to try out what we had seen.” 

In 2009, the head coach for Marine basketball, he only recalls by name Vava, decided to start training young boys, who had expressed passion for the game during the holidays and Ali was among those selected.

"I don’t know exactly why but I quickly fell in love with basketball and fortunately my family was so supportive of me and encouraged me to keep on since they realised that playing didn’t affect my performance in class.”

Upon joining secondary school, Ali’s former primary school Stella Marris, formed a basketball club that was meant to nurture young players’ talent, which he joined and played for until he completed his ordinary level.

In 2011, while in his senior four vacation, Ali came to Kigali and one day he decided to visit Kigali Basketball Club (KBC) training in Kacyiru. 

As fate would have it, he joined in the training drills and his exceptional skills caught the eye of the coach, who immediately talked to him about the possibility to join the club and that the club would pay his school fee at a school in Kigali. He later joined APR Rugunga for his A’level, with KBC paying his tuition.

Playing career

In his maiden season (2011/12) with KBC, they finished third behind champions Espoir and APR before finishing second in the following year, again behind Espoir. 

In both campaigns, Ali, despite his young age, had become a first team starter and had been named the vice-captain and the best young player of the year for the 2012/13 season.

"KBC helped me showcase my talent and inspired me to work even harder because in the second season with them, I got my fist callup to the national U-18 team. I am sure had I been still in Rubavu, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity so fast,” he admits.

During the 2013/14 campaign and what would be his last season with KBC, Ali had already been named the team captain; unfortunately, the club pulled out of the league due to administrative problems.

In mid 2014, Patriots basketball club was formed and registered to play in the national league—Ali was among the first players to be recruited by the Kagugu-basede club. 

The other players that Patriots recruited from KBC include; Chris Walter, Olivier Kamirindi and Pacifique Habyarima as well as head coach Cyrille Kalima. 

Ali was named the vice-captain before being the appointed captain the next year, following the departure of Sunny Niyonzima, who moved to IPRC-South.

In their first season (2014/15), Patriots did not win any silverware after finishing as first runners-up behind Espoir both in the regular league and playoffs.

However, the Kagugu-based side made changes, bringing in Tanzanian tactician Henry Mwinuka as head coach to replace Kalima and signed key players in key positions, among them Rwanda international Aristide Mugabe and Elie Kaje from Espoir. 

The changes made immediate impact as the club won a treble in the season. "The club is very organised, the management is so supportive and I think Patriots are going to dominate Rwandan basketball for years to come, and it’s amazing to be part of that.”

National duty

Ali got his first national senior cap in 2012 when Rwanda hosted the Zone V Championships that attracted Uganda and Kenya, which Rwanda went on to win. A year earlier, he featured for the U-18 national team that competed in FIBA U-18 in Madagascar.

In 2014, he again featured for the senior national team that competed in Zone V Championships staged in Uganda and were eliminated in the semi-finals by hosts.

Best and worst moments

"My best moment so far, was the time I got called up to the senior national team, as I player that is your top target, to represent your country, while my worst moment was this year when we failed to win the playoff title (Patriots lost to IPRC-South), we were very disappointed,” says the reigning MVP.

Future plans and ambitions

The Rwanda international says his dream is to play basketball on a professional level. "I wish I can at one time play in foreign countries like USA or in Europe, I know it’s very hard but you must have dreams and keep working hard.”

What his ex-coach says about him

His former coach at KBC, Kalima says; "Ali is a very well disciplined, purposeful player. He works hard and sometimes puts in extra individual training sessions to improve his game. And, he’s still young and yet to reach his peak, which I am sure he can reach in the next two or three years.”

editorial@newtimes.co.rw