Rwanda’s national basketball team head coach Cheikh Sarr has said that the national team is well prepared for the upcoming qualifiers of the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket which will take place in Dakar, Senegal from November 22-24.
Rwanda is pitted in Group C against hosts Senegal, Cameroon and Gabon. Their first game will be against Senegal on November 22 before taking on Cameroon November 23. They will then play their last game against Gabon on November 24.
Speaking to Times Sport, the seasoned Senegalese tactician said that he selected a blend of both young and experienced players as well as some new faces that he believes will make his roster much stronger.
Among the new players added in the team is American point guard Antino Jackson who will be playing for Rwanda for the first time, as well as Swiss-based power forward Dylan Shema. APR youngster Bruno Shema is also expected to make his international debut with Rwanda at the AfroBasket qualifiers.
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Sarr described Jackson as a "mature point-guard who has good leadership skills, a very positive character, can organise the game, identify the shooters, and use the pick and roll. He is a good defender, he is very fast and can take shots as well.”
He also revealed that he could have summoned some players who featured for the U18 team that played in the juniors’ AfroBasket that recently took place in South Africa. However, they couldn’t make it due to their school commitments.
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"We have (players) like Sean William Mwesigwa and Dylan Kayijuka. They are very good players; they are young at 17,18 years old. To have them now is very complicated, maybe in the future,” he noted.
He noted that the team is having good chemistry going into the competition.
Takes inspiration from Rwanda women’s impressive performance at the Women’s World Cup qualifiers that took place in Kigali, where they beat world’s top teams like Argentina and Lebanon, Sarr is optimistic that the men’s team will also go out aiming to put up a great performance.
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Commenting on Rwanda’s opponents, the coach admits that Cameroon and Senegal are "good teams where you have to be very organised to beat them.” And, for hosts and his home country Senegal, Sarr is aware that they have good players playing pro-basketball, like in Europe and USA.
He warned his team to be very organised and build good chemistry so they can cope with their rivals in Dakar.
Rwanda will be captained by Dieudonne Ndizeye. He took the duties from veteran Kenny Gasana who is now assuming the second assistant coach responsibilities.