DIEUDONNÉ Ndizeye has always had big dreams and aspirations – a factor that has partly seen him make giant leaps in his basketball career.

The small forward, who features for three-time Rwandan champions Patriots, also plays for the men’s senior national team since 2017 and has so far made about 20 appearances.

Last season, he was voted as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2018-19 BK Basketball National League after inspiring Patriots to their second successive championship and third in four seasons.

In an interview with Times Sport on Tuesday, Ndizeye revealed that, in his early career days, he trained three times a day and at times skipped lunch to follow his aspirations.

"I chased my basketball dream since I was young, all I am and ever achieved in the game is down to hard work,” said Ndizeye. "I cherished training and took it very seriously. Before the main team training, I did a lot of running and ball work all alone.”

"Very often, I would skip lunch while in training.”

Ndizeye, 25, was instrumental as Patriots cruised through two qualifying rounds to secure their ticket to the inaugural Basketball Africa League (BAL) regular season with a stunning 9:0 unbeaten run.

He joined Patriots from league rivals IPRC-Kigali in 2017.