Rwanda’s Igor Mugisha and Naci-Prosper Ndayishimiye are among the 25 basketball coaches from 15 African countries selected to participate in the NBA Summer League 2024 which will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from July 12 -22.
Mugisha serves as assistant coach for the U-18 national team while Ndayishimiye is a video coordinator for both the senior men's and women's national basketball teams.
During the Summer League, Mugisha will be on the technical staff of NBA champions Boston Celtics as Ndayishimiye will be with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Their involvement in the showpiece is part of the Africa coaches program which builds on NBA Africa’s and Basketball Africa League’s (BAL) commitment to building the capacity and expertise of coaches from the continent, improving the quality of the on-court product, and contributing to the continued growth of basketball in Africa.
Six teams that took part in the 2024 BAL season will have at least one coach participating, Al Ahly (Egypt), Bangui Sporting Club (Central Africa Republic) City Oilers (Uganda), FUS de Rabat (Morocco), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria), and US Monastir (Tunisia).
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Meanwhile, 16 of the 24 coaches will take part in the Africa Coaches Program for the first time. Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu was named 2024 BAL Coach of the Year and led his team to a third-place finish this season. Since 2009, Odaudu coached the team to three Nigerian Premier League titles.
Since 2019, Odaudu has been a member of the coaching staff on the Nigerian national team.
Four players who played in the 2024 BAL season are set to feature in this year’s Summer League. They include BAL 2024 MVP Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. (South Sudan; Sacramento Kings), Samkelo Cele (South Africa; New York Knicks), Devine Eke (Nigeria, Milwaukee Bucks), and Makhtar Gueye (Senegal; Atlanta Hawks).
The 2024 NBA Summer League (branded as NBA 2K25 Summer League 2024 for sponsorship reasons) will be an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas from July 12 to 22, 2024. The summer league consisted of the California Classic, Salt Lake City Summer League, and the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.